The Casvi Eurocolegios Group will give continuity, and a new impetus, to the historic Pinosierra International College of Tres Cantos which, since 1953, it has seen how numerous progessions of students have passed through its classrooms.
The Casvi Eurocolegios Group will give continuity, and a new impetus, to the historic Pinosierra International College of Tres Cantos which, since 1953, it has seen how numerous progessions of students have passed through its classrooms.
José Manuel Baena, director of Casvi International American School, and Juan Luis Yagüe, director of the Casvi Eurocolleges Group, with more than 30 years of experience in providing quality education, spoke to us about the new educational project based on International Baccalaureate programs, Implanted on the model of American education, that will allow the college to give classes in English, with native teachers.
Q.- How were the Casvi Eurocollegies born?
Juan Luis Yagüe.- The first Eurocolegio Casvi was founded in Villaviciosa de Odón in 1985. My father, who at that time had been teaching for more than 20 years, decided to fulfill his dream of founding a private school equipped with all means to give quality teaching. Then, in 2005, we had the opportunity to create the Colegio Concertado Eurocolegio Casvi in Boadilla del Monte. Now in 2017, we are opening the American school of Tres Cantos.
Q.- Why did you decide to open an American College in Tres Cantos?
J.L.Y.- Tres Cantos is an area with a very high socio-cultural level, so I think that there is space here for an international and American school like ours, since there are no others in the area.
In addition, we have always had a very good relationship with Pinosierra International College and its management team, and the foundations and bases of its educational model, coincide with our own. The values of traditional education, such as effort and discipline, and personalized attention to the student’s family, we believe should remain the basic pillars on which any educational project, including ours, which is based on The methodology of the International Baccalaureate.
Q.- Why did Casvi International American School choose the International Baccalaureate as a teaching model, implanted in addition to the American system?
J.L.Y.– For 10 years, the basis of the educational project of the Casvi Eurocolleges is the International Baccalaureate and today we know that models like this are the future of Education. It is a constructivist methodological framework that, from the age of 3, forms a background, in which the student is forging his own learning, and where the role of the teacher happens to be really a guide to that learning .
In addition, International Baccalaureate programs, implemented on the American system, allow the language of instruction at Casvi International American School to be English, with native teachers. It also covers the treatment of the mother tongue, in this case Spanish for most of the students, as a language of instruction for the subjects of Spanish Language and Social Sciences.
Q.- What do you think have been the keys to the success achieved by Casvi Eurocolleges?
J.L.Y.– The closeness with families since the first day of schooling. All of us who work in the college are in tune with an educational project in which the pillar is the student combined with communication with the family.
Also to believe in what you do, and be very aware of all the innovations that come out and that can be interesting, to incorporate them into the educational project. But always with a didactic objective: that students learn faster, better or with greater motivation.
Q.- What learning tools do you consider necessary?
J.L.Y.- A school must adapt to the times in society. Right now, we are in the Information Age, in which New Technologies are the protagonists, along with languages.
We, as an educational center, have a duty to teach students to make good use of technology and electronic devices. For us, technology is an additional tool for student learning. Therefore, in our centers of Villaviciosa de Odón and Boadilla del Monte, we use the iPad to give more support for inquiry and treatment of information, and from 5 º E. Primary, all students carry it loaded with the digital textbooks of all subjects, which have been developed by our own teachers.
Q.- How will the transition to the educational model of the International Baccalaureate take place?
José Manuel Baena.- In Primary and Secondary Education, the language of instruction will be English, and students will be trained with the Primary School Program, International Baccalaureate. In this first stage of education, the teaching model will be 100% American.
In E.S.O., although the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program will be implemented, the transition towards the American model with English instruction will be gradual. In contrast, in the Baccalaureate the national program will be maintained to combine it with the Diploma Program of the International Baccalaureate, in the near future.
Q.- In the Casvi Eurocolegies, the Support Programs for students with special needs are very important. Will Casvi International American School be the same?
J.M.B.– Our school in Tres Cantos will also serve those students with special needs, with the Support Program that best suits their personal situation. There will be reinforcement, for those students who need support; Or extension, for those students who demand it. Likewise, we will also have extraordinary reinforcement programs: directed study, for students who need even more individual support outside the classroom, and reinforcement of reading, for students who need to improve their reading comprehension.
In addition to these generic programs, for those students diagnosed with a special need, we propose specific methodological and / or curricular adaptations.
Q.- And sport and artistic activities, will continue to have the same presence in the school curriculum?
J.M.B.– Sport will work as a curricular subject, with activities such as tennis and rhythmic gymnastics, and also as an extraordinary way to acquire healthy habits of life. Sports such as football, tennis and rhythmic gymnastics will be another activity of the school day. Also, artistic disciplines such as music, theater or painting will occupy a privileged place in the school curriculum to promote artistic talent in all students, with activities of all kinds such as the choir of the school.
Q.- What are you going to present next March 11th at the Open Day and what message would you send to families to decide to enroll their children at Casvi International American School?
J.L.Y.- We will present a new educational model in which we believe, has worked very well for ten years in our other schools. I would ask you to attend the Open Day on March 11 and listen to our educational project, based on the International Baccalaureate, made by educators, for educators. If parents are looking for an international and different school in the north of Madrid, come and meet us and give us a vote of confidence.