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Marian Baker School

Costa Rica, San Jose

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The school at a glance
Instructs in English, Spanish
Fees Fees not listed
Ages 2 - 18 years
Pupil numbers 212
Type Co-educational
Bus Service No
Academic offering
Curriculum IB (DP), American Curriculum, Bespoke Curriculum
Taught languages Spanish, French
Typical class size 20
Strengths Sport, Visual and Creative Arts, Languages
Clubs Academic and Intellectual, Leadership and Professional, Community and Service
Stages Early Years, Primary School, Secondary School
Introduction

Marian Baker School (MBS) is a private international school in Costa Rican Central Valley serving students aged 2 to 18. The campus overlooks San José and offers English-dominant instruction with Spanish taught across all grades and French introduced early. The school provides the IB Diploma Programme alongside the Cognia High School Diploma and the Costa Rican high school diploma, enabling graduates to pursue colleges worldwide, including the United States and Costa Rica. In addition to the bespoke curriculum and American-style options, MBS emphasizes bilingual literacy and prepares students for diverse paths. Facilities include a gym, a library, a cafeteria, and modern classrooms for middle and high school, with dedicated spaces and campus spaces for efficient movement. Extracurriculars feature Model United Nations, National Honor Society, Student Government, and AASCA sports; arts electives include drama, band, and cinematography. The school is nut-free and promotes wellness through nutrition and physical education for all.

La Unión, De la iglesia de San Ramón, 300 m este, 300 m sur, Cartago, Costa Rica

The Essentials

Marian Baker School has 212 pupils, typical class sizes of 20, instruction in English, Spanish.

Location
The Marian Baker School is located in Cartago, in the San Ramón area of Tres Ríos. The campus sits 200 meters east and 200 meters south of the Catholic Church of San Ramón. The school serves Pre-K through 12th grade on a single campus and offers the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.

Stages
Early Childhood; Elementary; Middle School; High School / IB Diploma Programme

Type
Private

Additional learning support
The School provides learning support and social‑emotional arrangements through the Student Support Department. Services include remedial assistance, collaboration with families and outside professionals, progress monitoring, and accommodations for IB and Ministry programs.

Country affiliation
Costa Rica

School day structure
The campus opens for all students at 7:30 a.m. Pre-K half-day ends at 12:30 p.m., and full-day dismissal is at 3:08 p.m. Bus transportation is available with defined drop-off and pick-up procedures.

Bus service
Bus transportation is provided with designated drop-off and pick-up areas; students board under supervision and the bus attendant assists with seating and safety. Arrangements and transportation details are typically coordinated through admissions/transport forms.
Diving Deeper

Uniform Requirement
Uniforms are required for all students from pre-school through 12th grade. Pre-school wear turquoise MBS logo T-shirt, black athletic pants or shorts, black or white socks, white or black athletic shoes, and a solid black sweater or jacket. Grades 1–12 wear turquoise polo shirts with the MBS logo and black pants, with skirts or leggings allowed for girls and leggings not transparent; black or white socks and black shoes, plus a solid black sweater or hoodie; seniors may design and wear a special uniform with administration approval; on PE days wear a MBS T-shirt and black athletic wear.

Food Options
Students may bring their own snack or lunch or purchase from the cafeteria; express deliveries are not allowed except with prior administration approval. Preschool and lower elementary lunches are heated by staff; upper elementary students heat their own lunches under teacher supervision, with plastic containers only. The cafeteria provides a lunch program that can be contracted with the provider; monthly menus are posted; meals are eaten independently under teacher supervision.

Governance and Ownership
Marian Baker School is an English-speaking international school serving preschool through secondary. It is fully accredited by the Costa Rican Ministry of Public Education (MEP) and Cognia and is authorized by the International Baccalaureate Organization. It is governed by four bodies: Director General (Mrs. Adriana Calvo), Director of Early Childhood/Primary Education (Mrs. Ileana Cappella), Director of Middle and High School (Ms. Adriana Calvo), and Business Manager (Ms. Bonnie Heigold).
Fees
Application fees
- No publicly posted application or enrollment (matrícula) fee amount is available for the 2026/27 or 2025/26 academic years. Searches of the school's published contact pages and third‑party school directories did not reveal a specific application fee figure.

Tuition fees by school year / term
- No itemized tuition schedule (per term or per year group) for 2026/27 or 2025/26 is publicly available. There are no published per‑grade or per‑term tuition amounts located in the school's online listings or in major Costa Rica school directories consulted. As a result, exact tuition figures by year group or term cannot be provided here.

Billing schedule and payment terms
- No published billing schedule, payment due dates, installment options, or standard payment‑term conditions were found for the requested academic years. There is no publicly available statement of whether tuition is billed monthly, by term, or annually, nor of late‑payment penalties or discount policies.

Boarding fees (if applicable)
- No boarding program or boarding‑fee schedule is published. The school is referenced as a bilingual day school in multiple directories; no boarding or residential accommodation fees were identified. If a boarding option exists, no public fee schedule for it was found.

Other costs and fees (uniforms, materials, transport, extracurriculars)
- No published, specific amounts for uniforms, textbook/materials fees, technology fees, transportation, extracurricular activities, examination fees, or capital/registration surcharges were located. Typical categories (uniforms, materials, transport) were not accompanied by quantitative fee details in the sources checked.

Refund information
- No publicly posted refund policy or details about refunds for withdrawn students, deposits, tuition refunds, or pro‑rata adjustments were found for 2026/27 or 2025/26. No specific refund terms could be documented.

Fee payment options (credit card, bank transfer, cheque, etc.)
- No published information specifying accepted payment methods (for example, bank transfer, credit card, cheque, or cash) was located. Payment‑method details are not publicly listed in the directories and contact pages consulted.

Summary of findings and limitations
- A direct review of the school domain (mbs.ed.cr) and multiple Costa Rica school directories and listings identified the Marian Baker School and its location and programme type but did not produce a public fee schedule or numerical fee amounts for the 2026/27 or 2025/26 academic years. Because no authoritative, up‑to‑date tuition numbers, application fees, billing schedules, boarding fees, or payment‑method details were publicly available in the sources consulted, precise fee figures cannot be supplied here.
Wellbeing

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)
MBS fosters social and emotional learning through engaged families and counselor-led life-skills topics. Communication and cooperation between school and home are vital to each child's education, and parental support promotes emotional well-being. Life-skills and health topics, including study skills, time management, conflict resolution, and healthy habits, are addressed during advisory periods. The school promotes critical thinking, problem-solving, and ethical decision-making, and includes Zones of Regulation as part of SEL.

Special Educational Needs (SEN)
The school provides Special Education Services in the Early Childhood program and supports students with learning and language needs.

English as an Additional Language (EAL)
The school provides strong bilingual literacy, with high literacy in English and Spanish and exposure to French as the third language. All students take Spanish or SSL (Spanish as a Second Language), English, and/or ELL according to their language proficiency. Students who master Spanish take advanced Spanish (MEP/PDBI) and Costa Rica Social Studies (CRSS).

Mental Wellbeing
Emotional well-being is promoted through family engagement and counseling; communication between school and home is essential to learning. Life-skills and health topics are addressed in advisory periods; the school teaches critical thinking and healthy habits to foster resilient, ethical decision-making.

Safeguarding
The school follows all guidelines from Costa Rica's Health and Education Ministries and works to create a respectful, safe, and friendly school environment; health, illness, and injury procedures are in place to support student safety.
Parent Experience

History
Marian Baker School (MBS) is a small international English-speaking school educating preschool through high school. MBS is located on the verdant eastern slopes of the Central Valley overlooking San Jose. It is fully accredited by the Costa Rican Ministry of Public Education (MEP) and Cognia and is authorized by the International Baccalaureate Organization. The school offers a curriculum that prepares students for colleges and universities in the United States and Costa Rica, as well as other countries. MBS provides a high degree of literacy in English and Spanish, with exposure to French as the third language. Our goal is to inspire students to be lifelong learners who are responsible and engaged members of their communities.

Community
MBS celebrates the special heritages of Costa Rica and the United States and other nationalities that make up our school community. Communication and cooperation between the school and home are vital to the educational process, and parental support promotes emotional well-being and a positive attitude toward learning. Small class settings are used to promote high academic and creative achievement. The school regards students, their families and the staff as an interdependent community and works together daily to create a respectful and caring small-school environment.

Parent Teacher Association (PTA)
The MBS Parent Association celebrates the cultural diversity in the MBS community through events such as the Thanksgiving Pie Feast and International Day and works with parents to support Marian Baker School and its goals. It is a group of involved parents who volunteer their time to support MBS and its goals. It is not a legal association as defined by the Costa Rican government, nor a union to collect grievances, nor a shareholder organization, nor a problem-solving body for student or staff issues, or a legislative body to set school policy. The Parent Association Leadership Team meets monthly for planning and helps carry out events sponsored by the Parent Association.
Facilities

Facilities Overview
Marian Baker School (MBS) is an international school with English as the official language. It educates students from early childhood through secondary school and is located in the green hills overlooking San José in the Central Valley. MBS is fully accredited by the Costa Rican Ministry of Public Education (MEP) and Cognia, and is authorized by the International Baccalaureate Organization. The campus includes a gym, a library, a cafeteria, and classrooms and common areas serving middle and high school students. Most classes are conducted in English, with Spanish taught throughout all grades and French offered as a third language for younger students.

Sports Facilities
The gym is used for recreation, lunch, physical education classes, and after‑school practices and events, and must always be supervised by a teacher. The gym is not open before or after school unless scheduled with administration. No food is allowed in the gym during class hours. Playing fields are available on weekends and holidays under supervision by staff, parents, or other adults. The campus supports organized sports and other activities within and beyond the regular day.

Academic Facilities
Classrooms and corridors are maintained to be orderly and functional, with lockers provided for secondary students. The middle and high school have dedicated spaces and passages for efficient movement. The library is open on school days from 7:50 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with extended hours on Tuesdays to 4:15 p.m.; Students may use the library during recreation and lunch periods and outside class times under supervision. The library collection includes books, magazines, DVDs, and digital resources, and the catalog and electronic resources are accessible to the school community. The curriculum enables graduation with three diplomas: the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IB DP), Cognia High School Diploma, and the Costa Rican high school diploma; Most classes are in English, with Spanish taught across primary and secondary, and French offered as a third language from pre‑school through ninth grade; ESL/SSL supports are available for language leveling.

Extra Curricular Facilities
Co‑curricular programs include Model United Nations (MUN), the National Honor Society, Student Government, and AASCA sports competitions in Central America. Electives for Middle School include Drama, Band, Cinematography, Creative Exploratory Art, Information Literacy, Basketball, Arts and Crafts, Forensic Science, and MUN. These activities develop leadership, public speaking, collaboration, and a broad range of academic and creative skills.
Extra-Curricular Activities

Academic & Intellectual
Marian Baker School offers three diplomas: the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IB DP), the Cognia American High School Diploma, and the Costa Rican National Diploma. The IB DP is a two-year program organized around six subject groups (Language and Literature; Language Acquisition; Individuals and Societies; Sciences; Mathematics; and the Arts) with a core that includes Theory of Knowledge, the Extended Essay, and Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS). The Diploma Programme emphasizes critical thinking, collaboration, communication and reflection, and students may earn up to 45 points with a minimum of 24 to graduate. In 11th grade, students enroll in the IB Diploma Programme, and the school provides English Language Learner (ELL) and Spanish as a Second Language (SSL) support to access the curriculum. The school is fully accredited by the Costa Rican Ministry of Public Education (MEP) and Cognia and is authorized by the International Baccalaureate Organization.

Arts & Creative
Special classes include Art, Music, Physical Education, Drama, French, Band, and Computers and Technology. Marian Baker School fosters creative expression through art, music and theatre. Band is offered as part of the curriculum. The programmatic emphasis on the arts aligns with the IB framework in supporting creative exploration across grades.

Cultural & Language
English is the language of instruction, and students achieve a high degree of literacy in both English and Spanish. French is taught as a third language from K4 to 2nd grade, with continued exposure in later grades. Spanish is taught from First Grade, and Costa Rican Social Studies begins in Fifth Grade. The library supports language learning with resources in English and Spanish, plus French materials, aided by a bilingual staff member.

Social & Hobbies
Elementary students may join the club program offered by Clubes Creativos, with clubs run on a semester basis and an additional fee. Secondary students have the Secondary Student Council (StuCo) for leadership and student governance. Seniors participate in special fundraising activities throughout the year, with funds approved by administration and managed in the school account.

Community & Service
Junior National Honor Society (NJHS) and National Honor Society (NHS) memberships are awarded to students based on scholarship, service, leadership and character, with explicit eligibility criteria for each chapter. Members must meet GPA/eligibility requirements and adhere to conduct standards as part of the selection process. These societies emphasize service and community involvement as core components of membership.

Leadership & Professional
Leadership opportunities are available through the Secondary Student Council (StuCo). The IB Diploma Programme core also fosters leadership and project work through CAS (Creativity, Activity and Service), which requires ongoing student projects in arts, sports, service and community engagement.

Lifestyle & Wellbeing
Life skills and health topics are addressed through guidance periods and counseling, focusing on study skills, time management, conflict resolution and healthy habits. Physical Education is provided from early childhood through high school, with uniforms and gym facilities used for PE and after-school activities. Marian Baker School is nut-free, offers nutritionally balanced menus, and promotes wellness; half-day Wednesdays occur on the first Wednesday of each month at 12:15 pm.
Languages

Language Provision
The school is an English-speaking international school that educates preschool through secondary. The school provides literacy in English and Spanish. All students take Spanish or SSL (Spanish as a Second Language), and English and/or ELL according to their language proficiency. Students fluent in Spanish take advanced Spanish (MEP/PDBI) and Costa Rican Social Studies (CRSS), while French is offered as a third language.
Admissions

Admissions
1. Initial Documentation. An applicant and the parents submit an application form and Applying Parent Questionnaire, plus a passport-sized photo, the applicant's birth certificate or passport for non-Costa Rica citizens, IDs for both parents (including mother's maiden name), and a copy of residency status or permit. They also provide formal transcripts from last attending school (minimum of three years) and any evaluations by a specialist if needed. After review of the initial documentation by the Admissions Committee, applicants are notified whether they may continue to Step 2. A $275 application fee must be paid to advance; the fee is deducted from the first tuition payment if the applicant is accepted.
School Events
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