Recently, Lincoln School Costa Rica held its annual Assembly meeting of the parent community. As a reminder, Lincoln School is a non-profit organization owned and operated by the parent community. By rule, our Board of Directors and senior administration meet annually with the parent community to report on the current state of the school. This Assembly is a chance to highlight our annual accomplishments, review the past year’s budget, approve the budget for the coming year, and for parents to vote on members of the Board of Directors.
Our outgoing Board President had the opportunity to review many school-wide accomplishments from the 2022-2023 school year. High School accomplishments included:
Entrepreneurship
- 100% of our 9th grade students completed our EPIC entrepreneurship course and earned certificates from Babson College.
- We officially launched the Entrepreneurial Academy with an initial cohort of 13 students enrolled in a slate of Lincoln School entrepreneurship courses as well as college-level courses from Arizona State University.
Experiential Education
- We launched the Lincoln Interschool Math Olympics (LIMO), hosting schools from across Costa Rica in a full day of math activities and competitions.
- We launched experiential education trips in grades 9 and 10. 9th Grade visited the Veragua Science Station in September, 2023 to complete academic and service experiences over the course of a full week. 10th grade is scheduled to visit in May, 2024.
IBMYP (9th and 10th Grades)
- We launched the 10th grade “College and Career Readiness” course to foster the development of students’ ATL Skills, assist in their course and matriculation pathway selection, and begin their university research and application process.
- We launched MAP testing in 9th and 10th grade to gather data for program development and individual student support plans. Students performed above growth targets in both Math (9th and 10th grade) and Reading (9th grade).
- We doubled participation in MATEM Pre-Calculus (2022, 2023 vs. 2019, 2020) from an average of 23 students per year to an average of 46 students per year. 98% of students in 2023 passed the course and earned college credit.
IBDP (11th and 12th Grades)
- We completed the IBDP 5 Year Review with overwhelmingly positive feedback and no areas of significant concern. The visiting team specifically commended the inclusive nature of the Lincoln program as well as the breadth of subject offerings and emphasis on service.
- We implemented an “IBDP Action Plan” with targeted interventions to support students’ success in the IBDP, improve the overall academic rigor of the Lincoln program, and increase students’ average and overall exam scores.
- Our IBDP program has expanded by over 50% in the past four years. We now offer 23 different courses, most at both the SL and HL levels. The total number of IB Diplomas awarded in the 4 years post-pandemic exceed the total number of IB diplomas awarded pre-pandemic, 211/174.
- Between the IBDP and Entrepreneurial Academy, we doubled participation in college-level coursework among 11th and 12th grade students since 2017. 80% of Lincoln students in Generation 2025 are enrolled in college credit earning programs of study (IBDP and Entrepreneurship Academy).
And there’s plenty more where that came from. This year our High School faculty has engaged in a curriculum refresh project addressing all areas of our written and delivered curricula. We’ve also continued our collaborative work focused on student-centered instructional strategies. We have paid particular attention to our routines and procedures and their impact on the learning experience of our students. We’ve engaged in a whole-school DEIB initiative, which has included the use of consultants and self-driven initiatives to reinforce a culture of belonging for all stakeholders in our community.
It’s truly an exciting time here at Lincoln, and I for one can’t wait to see where we go next in the name of providing the very best learning environment for all of our students!
Garrenteed Learning 