A new stage awaits high school students in public Montessori schools

The school semester has concluded and with it comes countless celebrations, one of them being the transitions that students at different levels have, Secondary being one of the most significant.

Students in Montessori public schools (EPM) who complete a level or stage of development go through a transition process to the next level or stage and these must be consistent with the Montessori philosophy. That is why you will not hear the word graduation as part of the vocabulary, but rather transition ceremony.

Although many think that Montessori education is for young children, today we remind you that this is not the case. Montessori education serves students from 2 months to 18 years of age, preparing the young person all the way to college.

The Montessori public school project in Puerto Rico today serves 10 Secondary public schools, for a total of 1,640 students.

“Middle and high school education in our country are the reason for the dropout rates that have been talked about so much in recent days and that attention is needed,” shared Isabel Arce, coordinator of the Secondary level at INE, stating the importance of serving this population through INE.

This year, in general terms, 93% of Montessori public school students continue post-secondary studies, 61% baccalaureate and 32% technical/associate degrees. The majors with the highest admission were: Engineering, Business Administration and Education. While the institutions with the highest admission were UPR Río Piedras and Sistema Universitario Ana G. Méndez.

Two examples of these statistics are the young Jeremy Cedano Rodríguez and the young Argelis Amaro Martínez, both admitted to the University of Puerto Rico Río Piedras Campus for this next school year.

Argelis Amaro graduates from the Montessori school República del Perú located in Santurce. The 18-year-old young woman arrived at the República del Perú school in seventh grade, where she expressed how well received she felt from the beginning.

She is described as a serious, responsible, focused, kind and helpful young woman; characteristics that she acknowledges that her Montessori school helped strengthen and develop.

Argelis was admitted to the School of Architecture of the UPR of Río Piedras, with the aspiration of becoming an architect and helping with the infrastructure problems suffered by public schools, according to what she experienced.

In his process of finding that vocation she expressed the great help she received from her counselor and teachers.

With great confidence, she admitted how prepared she feels for her new stage of life, sharing that the teachers at her school prepared her for the demands of college and to be a leader.

“Although I am afraid because it is a totally different experience from high school, thanks to all the projects they gave me, the presentations, the reports, the books to analyze them are things that slowly accumulate and give you attributes that I didn't know what I had,” said the young woman.

Another young man who feels prepared to enter university is Jeremy Cedano Rodríguez, who studied at the Juan Ponce de León school since he was an infant, at 7 months old, making his transition to university today.

Jeremy begins in August at the Faculty of Business Administration to study Economics, a topic that has caught his attention since his “Big Trip” experience in Elementary ll, 4th to 6th. He shares that he has always been intrigued by how money can dominate the world and it is very important to have the ability to manage and know it.

In addition, he is already part of the UPR Río Piedras Gallitos baseball team, being an athlete since his first year and with aspirations to play in the United States.

For this new stage that is approaching, Jeremy mentioned that he carries with him from his Juan Ponce de León school that empathy that was planted in him by his surroundings and leadership.

“All my growth has happened there. And I believe that that empathy for the world and that need to lead at some point to give knowledge to a person, thing or put your skills to work so that the world is better is what I take with me,” shared the young man.

He confidently stated how excited, confident and prepared he feels towards university life, especially when the school has helped him identify his strengths, weaknesses and get to know himself.

From Instituto Nueva Escuela, we congratulate all high school students who are making the transition to their youth stage. We know that you will take with you what you learned in your school not only for yourselves, but to make your homeland, your university, community and family a better one.