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Our Vision
The vision for Escuela Caracol is a full primary school, from kindergarten up to 6thgrade, that meets the needs of the whole child and raises the educational. Our plan for growth follows an organic model that begins at the beginning – with a kindergarten. Expansion is occurring as our students grow, adding primary school classes sequentially each year.
Classes take place in an expansive garden filled with fruit trees, winding paths, rocks and trees to climb, and many enchanted areas for play. Our classrooms are covered, open-air structures, one of which is a Golden Rectangle, which is the basis of the golden spiral, found most commonly in the nautilus shell. Our kindergarten currently meets in a large circular palapa that has a palm roof and a short cane wall. By 2012 we hope to add three new classroom spaces to accommodate our growth. We are currently working on another transitional kindergarten classroom to be ready for the first day of classes in January of 2012. Additionally, we are in the process of developing plans, and fundraising for the project of building 3 new primary classrooms to meet our school’s growing needs. We hope to start construction by June 2012. Learn more about the Classroom Campaign and help us make our dream come a reality by making a donation.
Our Name
The caracol (ka ra kól), or snail shell, carries great significance in Latin America, and especially within Maya culture. Its typical spiral formation symbolizes the integration of all life's facets into a common whole. The caracol is a symbol of life and community that is both ancient and contemporary, functional and decorative, profound and playful. For us, it is also an emblem of learning as it represents:
A holistic and encompassing outlook that suggests continual growth and balance.- A natural progression from the center outward, presenting all subjects in their relationship to humans.
- An abstract concept rooted in the concrete world, gradually progressing from the more immediate and even tactile to the more distant and intangible.
- A perennial cycle of forgetting and remembering, where subjects and themes are revisited annually for a given term and expanded upon each successive year in an ascending spiral.