PUEDO School Scholarship Fund

What is the PUEDO School Scholarship Program?

The PUEDO School Scholarship Program continues to be generously matched by the Guanacaste Community Fund and Amigos of Costa Rica! Since 2015, PUEDO has identified underprivileged children in our community and provides them with a world class education. Scholarship students come from lower income families whose annual income is less than $7,000 per year and these learners may be the first in their family to ever receive preschool education. Our program matches donors directly to individual students to provide a tangible and direct connection between you, the donor, and the money you donate.

What is unique about PUEDO's scholarship program? PUEDO School provides rigorous, place-based, bilingual education utilizing a global curriculum. The curriculum's core is to challenge students to think independently, ask higher-order thinking questions, and learn through experience, not rote memorization. This is a much-needed paradigm shift in education. The traditional model teaches basic literacy through repetition, and while the results yield literate students, they are typically not well-equipped to think independently, problem solve, or develop enduring solutions.

How will donors know how money is being spent? Approximately 95% of scholarship donations go directly to the education of the sponsored student. Donors who commit to the Scholarship Program's Gold Level are paired with an individual student. Scholarship students will write to you, update you on their schooling, tell you about their families and their lives, and maintain a connection with you on a regular basis. In addition, if you visit us in Santa Teresa, you will meet our learners and have a chance to build a personal relationship with our team. Through this pairing, you are able to see the direct impact of your donation on the life of a specific learner year after year. The remaining 5% of your donation is used to administer the overhead costs associated with the Scholarship Program.

Is my donation Tax Deductible? PUEDO School is recognized as a non-profit association in Costa Rica (3002.638.772.00) and recognized under a 501(c)3 registered non-profit organization in the United States (Amigos of Costa Rica). As a result, donations made in both countries are tax deductible!