The Link #24 - The New Culture School “La Cecilia”

The New Culture School “La Cecilia” is a private school (not financed by the government). It is located on a five-acre campus in a rural area near the town of Monte Vera, not far from the city of Santa Fe, in Argentina. This natural and peaceful setting creates a homely and friendly atmosphere. The school was founded fourteen years ago by a married couple intent on providing a good education for their son. They began classes in 1991 with only two students, but a few months later the number had risen to fifteen. Currently it has seventy students and fifteen teachers. This high ratio of teachers to students, with an ¬average of ten students per class, makes for a highly personalized education.

The fundamental intention is to let the students grow freely and learn the art of living free of imposition or any dogmatic indoctrination. In order to achieve these objectives, it is necessary that both students and teachers work hard together at deepening their self-understanding.

Here each student is treated as an individual and encouraged to develop his/her own capacities in freedom. The relations between teachers and students are respectful and non-authoritarian. Special attention is given to the proper care and health of the body, and a vegetarian diet and natural lifestyle are encouraged, without smoking or alcohol.

All subjects are considered from a global perspective, with no nationalism, no discrimination, and a feeling of union with the whole of humanity. This means seeing all peoples, however otherwise different, as essentially the same, caring for all living things and protecting the integrity of the environment.

La Cecilia offers kindergarten facilities for children aged three to five and an officially certified programme of studies at the following basic and secondary levels: E.G.B. (General Basic Education): Nine school grades from age six. This is the level of compulsory schooling in Argentina. Polimodal: Three years of secondary studies allowing access to university.

The founders were inspired by their reading of Krishnamurti and by the knowledge that they had about the existing K schools. In the last two years, they initiated contact with the Fundación Krishnamurti Latinoamericana (FKL), the Spanish K Foundation, and began a mutual collaboration with them. The School now also functions as a Krishnamurti Inform¬ation Center, offering books and video showings to all those interested in K’s teachings. This service was made possible thanks to the donation of books and videos by FKL.

For additional information, please contact: Ginés del Castillo, Escuela de la Nueva Cultura “La Cecilia”, Ruta Provincial N° 5, Km 3, 3014 Monte Vera, Santa Fe, Argentina; Tel.: [54] 0342 490 4151, e-mail: escuelalacecilia@yahoo.com.ar, www.lacecilia.allhost.org