"El Puente" With French Broad River Academy
French Broad River Academy (FBRA) plans to offer a ninth grade, co-educational year in the 2024/25 school year. The fall semester will take place in Asheville, and three months of the spring semester will occur in Pejibaye, Costa Rica, with students returning in April and May to close out the year and prepare for their transition to high school. FBRA will provide high-level academic coursework and instruction, a robust outdoor program, and an emphasis on Spanish language and international cultural immersion.
Info Session
Learn more about El Puente at our next Info Session:
- Wednesday, September 27, 2023, 5:30p.m.
- French Broad River Academy North Campus
1990 Riverside Drive, Asheville, NC 28804
Contact Will Yeiser with questions: [email protected].
El Puente Academics:
Semester 1- Asheville
- English 1 Honors
- Writing for Academic Coursework
- Spanish 2 Honors
- Math 2 Honors
- PE (PE class hours will be achieved through the outdoor program)
Semester 2 - Costa Rica/Asheville
- World History Honors
- Earth and Environmental Science Honors
- Spanish 3 Honors
- Studio Art (taught in Spanish)
- PE (PE class hours will be achieved through the outdoor program)
Normal school hours will be from 8:30 am until 3:30 pm Monday through Friday. While in Costa Rica, students will also have class on most Saturday mornings from 9:00 until noon. This time will be set aside for the health curriculum in PE class, service projects, outdoor activities, and/or academic support.
El Puente Outdoor Program:
El Puente students will attend a 4-day outdoor experience during one week of each month during the school year. There will not be a “field day” each week as offered in the FBRA middle school program.
- Asheville
- August - Orientation
- September - Whitewater paddling
- October - Rock Climbing
- November/December - Scuba Diving Certification
- Costa Rica
- January - Biology Field trip with surfing and sailing on the Osa Peninsula
- February - Diving Trip to Panama (reissue 90 day visa) - Bocas del Toro Islands
- March - Spring Break with families (students can either fly back to the USA or parents can stay and have a family vacation for the break in Costa Rica)
- Asheville
- April - Choose your adventure. Students may particiate in a climbing, hiking, or paddling trip of their choice.
- May - Bringing it all together and giving back - Community Impact Project
El Puente Spanish Language and International Experiences:
El Puente students will study Spanish in an academic setting, taking two Spanish courses (Spanish 2 Honors and Spanish 3 Honors) during the school year. In addition, students will live with a Costa Rican host family for three months during the Spring semester to undergo full Spanish language and cultural immersion. In addition, the studio art class in Costa Rica will be taught in Spanish. Students will eat breakfast and supper with their homestay families, and the school will provide a cooked lunch for students at the campus.
Pejibaye is a small rural town of around 3,000 people 45 miles east of San Jose. Being in the highlands at around 2,000 feet, the temperature is quite comfortable, consistently in the mid 60’s in the mornings and low 80’s in the afternoon. The nearest city, Turialba, is about a 30 minute drive from Pejibaye and has a brand new hospital, shopping, and restaurants.
El Puente Staffing:
While the school will not make final decisions on staffing until the spring of 2024, our plan is to hire two US staff members and one Costa Rican staff member who will teach the students both in the United States and Costa Rica. These teachers could be current middle school staff members or could be new hires. In addition, we hope to hire a Costa Rican teacher to teach the studio art class in Costa Rica. There will also be a Program Director who will be the primary parent liaison with the school.
El Puente Tuition and Admissions:
Tuition for the 2023/24 school year was set at $29,500. 2024/25 tuition will be announced as soon as possible.
- Students who are currently enrolled eighth grade students in either FBRA Middle School program will be given admissions preference.
- Students who are accepted and are not deemed ready for Math 2 and/or Spanish 2 by their eighth-grade teachers will need to be provided with academic support and remediation over the summer of the 2024.
- Tuition includes all academic and outdoor programming, homestays and food in Costa Rica, airfare for one round-trip ticket to Costa Rica (up to $800), scuba diving certification, and land transportation in Costa Rica.
- Students will need to provide their own computers (Chromebooks are fine).
Questions? Ready to start an application? Contact Will Yeiser: [email protected].