Mayatan School
Encyclopedia
Mayatan Bilingual School is a non-profit, private, independent bilingual (Spanish/English) co-educational day school located in Copán Ruinas
, Copán
, Honduras
. In the 2010-11 school year the enrollment was 300 students from Pre-Kinder through 11th grade. Mayatan's first high school class entered in 2009-10 and will graduate in 2012.
The school uses volunteer native English speakers, primarily from North America, as the lead teachers for each class. Local teachers teach Spanish and social studies and assist the lead teachers at the younger grade levels. The school is owned an operated by the Mayatan Foundation, and it relies on donations to provide scholarships to some 45% of its students. Scholarship sponsors come primarily from local businesses and friends, family, and groups from North America and Europe.
woman, Nora Arita de Welchez, who wanted to give her children the opportunity to get a quality education in English without having to leave the town. She joined forces with two other local mothers, Maria Eugenia Aviles de Arias and Mayra Arias de Welchez. The first year, nine students enrolled in the first grade and teachers were mostly English-speaking backpackers. At that time, the school was located in a small schoolhouse directly across from the Maya ruins that give the town its name.
In 2001, former school director Frank Hopkins helped the owners of the school to form Fundación Mayatan (Mayatan Foundation), a registered, tax exempt charity organization in Honduras. The Foundation now owns and operates the school. The primary function of the non-profit Foundation is to provide conduct the fundraising and development work for the school, as well as the administration of scholarships.
, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that would transfer funds to Mayatan. The goal of Hope for Tomorrow was to allow U.S. taxpayers the opportunity to donate to Mayatan and receive a tax credit.
, which allows students to receive an American-accredited diploma alongside their Honduran bachillerato de turismo and bachillerato en ciencias y letras. Otherwise, Honduran education laws dictate the number of hours each week that must be dedicated to each subject. These include Reading, Math, Science and Spelling which are conducted in English and normally taught by foreign teachers; as well as Estudios Sociales and Español which are instructed by local Honduran teachers. In addition, the school also offers curriculum in Handwriting, Oral Language Development, Art, Music, Physical Education, Computers, Values, Library, Home Economics, Anthropology, Art History, Psychology, and Literature.
Copán Ruinas
Copán Ruinas is a municipality in the Honduran department of Copán. The town, located close to the Guatemalan border, is a major gateway for tourists traveling to the Pre-Columbian ruins of Copán...
, Copán
Copán
Copán is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization located in the Copán Department of western Honduras, not far from the border with Guatemala. It was the capital city of a major Classic period kingdom from the 5th to 9th centuries AD...
, Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
. In the 2010-11 school year the enrollment was 300 students from Pre-Kinder through 11th grade. Mayatan's first high school class entered in 2009-10 and will graduate in 2012.
The school uses volunteer native English speakers, primarily from North America, as the lead teachers for each class. Local teachers teach Spanish and social studies and assist the lead teachers at the younger grade levels. The school is owned an operated by the Mayatan Foundation, and it relies on donations to provide scholarships to some 45% of its students. Scholarship sponsors come primarily from local businesses and friends, family, and groups from North America and Europe.
Mission Statement
Mayatan Bilingual School is dedicated to providing a diverse population of students, from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade, with the best bilingual education possible, thereby giving them the tools to become active, responsible, and informed participants in their local, national, and global communities.History
The school was founded in 1991 by a local Copán RuinasCopán Ruinas
Copán Ruinas is a municipality in the Honduran department of Copán. The town, located close to the Guatemalan border, is a major gateway for tourists traveling to the Pre-Columbian ruins of Copán...
woman, Nora Arita de Welchez, who wanted to give her children the opportunity to get a quality education in English without having to leave the town. She joined forces with two other local mothers, Maria Eugenia Aviles de Arias and Mayra Arias de Welchez. The first year, nine students enrolled in the first grade and teachers were mostly English-speaking backpackers. At that time, the school was located in a small schoolhouse directly across from the Maya ruins that give the town its name.
Mayatan Foundation
Hope for Tomorrow
After returning to the United States, Hopkins founded Hope for TomorrowHope for Tomorrow
Hope for Tomorrow is a non-profit organization, which declares its aim to provide health care, human services and educational assistance to the underprivileged communities throughout the world...
, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that would transfer funds to Mayatan. The goal of Hope for Tomorrow was to allow U.S. taxpayers the opportunity to donate to Mayatan and receive a tax credit.
New Campus
In 2003, the school built a new campus on a hillside just outside of town and that is where it currently resides. The decision to move was prompted by the discovery that the old campus lay on top of buried Maya ruins and they were restricted from building additional classrooms. With the school enrollment growing, the new campus gave the school the room to expand and in 2006 Mayatan was able to add a primary wing.Academics
The school is accredited with the Honduran Department of Education. The Mayatan high school is also accredited through the University of Missouri High SchoolMu Online
MU Online is a 3D medieval fantasy MMORPG, produced by Webzen, a Korean gaming company.-Gameplay:MU Online was created back in December 2001 by the Korean gaming company Webzen. Like in most MMORPGs, players have to create a character among five different classes and to set their foot on the MU...
, which allows students to receive an American-accredited diploma alongside their Honduran bachillerato de turismo and bachillerato en ciencias y letras. Otherwise, Honduran education laws dictate the number of hours each week that must be dedicated to each subject. These include Reading, Math, Science and Spelling which are conducted in English and normally taught by foreign teachers; as well as Estudios Sociales and Español which are instructed by local Honduran teachers. In addition, the school also offers curriculum in Handwriting, Oral Language Development, Art, Music, Physical Education, Computers, Values, Library, Home Economics, Anthropology, Art History, Psychology, and Literature.