Director's Corner
Often, on tours of our campus, I ask the members of the group to think back to the classrooms they attended in their youth.  It is remarkable just how many were like the ones I sat in growing up: rectangular rooms constructed from cement blocks with rows of composite desks and chairs for 30 or more students, fluorescent lights above, and a chalk board where the teacher stood at the front of the class. Windows were small, and often designed above eye level so that students would not be distracted by anything or anybody outside. Unfortunately, this kind of environment is still common today at many schools around in the world. Students are quite literally made to think inside of a box.
 In this e-newsletter, we highlight the opening of our Preschool program and also celebrate the beginning of our youngest students’ school careers, including my own daughter, Thea. At Green School, we are creating a learning environment
where students not only feel supported and cared for, but one that also fosters creativity, fun, imagination, and learning of the best possible kind. We are incorporating the latest research-supported educational theories in the design of our buildings and implementation of our curriculum: We know that students learn best in natural light, so our open-air classrooms allow in plenty of daylight. Because students respond well to learning in circle configurations as well as in rows, our classroom spaces are large and flexible enough to accommodate both. And with three teachers in every class, we can offer a dynamic mix of small group learning and individual attention. In short, we are starting from a new place and carefully making student-centered decisions at every turn. And while most of our students are entering from other schools, I hope they will also share the excitement and natural curiosity of our Preschool students as they discover the joy of engaged learning on their first day.
~ Brad Choyt, Director
Kul-Kul Calendar
Upcoming Events:
 Green School Open House
Sunday, July 6th
Come join us for an Open House and bring along friends and family for an energizing afternoon. As always, we start at 3 pm and finish at 5 pm. Please RSVP to (0361) 469-875 or write to us at admissions@greenschool.org.
 Sunny Fun Day
Wednesday, July 9th
A chance for your child to experience a message of sustainable living in a green world through a hands-on language: meet the animals and plants of Green School; select seeds and plant rice; enjoy watching and drinking the daring delights of coconut collection; and create Balinese puppets. A day for all ages. Parents are welcome to join in the fun!
Recent Events:
 Campfire Breakfast and Green School Open House
Sunday, June 15th
June 15 was a double whammy Sunday at Green School, with a morning breakfast event for families who have already enrolled and an afternoon Open House to continue spreading our message of sustainability and education to prospective families.
New Green School students and their parents got to know other members of the community over a delicious feast of breakfast burritos and bubur (we celebrate multiculturalism in all ways here!) before getting down to business and painting rubbish and recycling bins that will be placed around the campus. Year 3-4 teacher and circus skills enthusiast Johnny Ryan entertained the troops with a display of his unicycle prowess, and even gave a few brave souls lessons--without even a scraped knee to show for it.
In the afternoon, about 50 people, including prospective students and their families, visited Green School and learned more about our pioneering approach to learning that combines a rigorous academic curriculum with a holistic approach, all overlaid on a strong base of environmental and experiential education. After a campus tour, everyone gathered in our spectacular Mepantigan building for refreshments, and the intrepid Johnny Ryan (again!) led some of our younger visitors in a wholesomely dirty mud-flinging activity.
 Braving the Waves of Nusa Penida
Sunday, June 22nd
The Green School team braved the howling winds and the monstrous waves to dive and snorkel in the clear waters of Nusa Penida, an island that sits across the Badung Strait on the southeast coast of Bali.
 Scholarship Open House
Sunday, June 29th
Green School demonstrated its support of Bali’s youth by announcing a generous scholarship program for local children aged two through thirteen. We invited Bali’s brightest, most creative, and most engaged local students to attend an Open House exclusively for Indonesian scholarship applicants on Sunday, June 29th from 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. Students and their parents had an opportunity to tour the eight-hectare campus in Sibang Kaja, meet faculty and staff, obtain application materials, and have their questions addressed.
Read more about our contribution to Bali’s children.
Campus Chorus
Inauguration of the Classroom Bubble
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Walking the Talk
 Dereck and Beverly Joubert
28th May 2008
On May 28, Green School embraced award-winning photographers, filmmakers, writers, and conservationists, Dereck and Beverly Joubert. For over 25 years, the couple has dedicated their lives to understanding and protecting wild Africa’s majestic creatures. Through research, filmmaking, and publishing, they have brought us new insights into the social structures and predator/prey relationships amongst buffalo, hyenas, leopards, elephants and numerous other wild animals across Africa, but it is Africa's gravely endangered lion that most completely captures their hearts and keeps their focus razor sharp in the race to save them from impending extinction.
Read more on how Green School captures the Jouberts’ hearts
 The Flemish Association for Development Cooperation and Technical Assistance
28th May 2008
On June 12, two groups sponsored by The Flemish Association for Development Cooperation and Technical Assistance visited Green School. Twenty-five teachers from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi toured the campus with Green School Director Brad Choyt. Here is what they had to say: "Visiting Green School is an overwhelming experience….walking around The Kul-Kul Campus made me realize your approach is 100% the way it should be. Everything has been perfectly thought through... In other words, it is the ideal environment for children.”
Read more about what people are saying
 Lance Schuler Yoga Retreat
12th June 2008
Yoga students from Lance Schuler's yoga retreat in Bali visited Green School on June 27th. Several of the participants made a generous donation toward the building of the "Heart of School" and had names carved into the structural pillars that will support one of the largest bamboo buildings in the world.
Green People
 Sinead Lawson
Lead Teacher
Preschool
2008-2009
After thirteen years of teaching experience, I can safely say that I have become accustomed to the array of questions that one is asked by children. One quickly learns not to feel offended or develop a complex when asked questions such as 'Teacher, why are your eyes blue?' and 'Teacher, why is your nose so big?' and remember for the many Asian students that I have taught that these were very important questions to them.
One of the most memorable incidents that I recall happened at a school I taught at in Dublin, where one day I informed a boy who I was teaching that my dad was coming to pick me up and give me a ride home. I was greeted with a wide open-mouthed look of astonishment, a good deal of silence and then the reply came, 'But you don't have a dad!  You're big already! And you live here at the school!' And then it all clicked into place...why so many of my confident, expressive students turn into quiet little mice when I bump into them at the supermarket or in the bookshop and hide behind Mummy's skirt - I don't belong in those places and for them to see me there is a break in their routine and conflicts with the environment they are comfortable with seeing me in. They only ever see me at school and for them that is where I belong - live, sleep and eat! No matter how much I tried to convince my student that day that I lived in a house, with my parents and my brother, he refused to accept the fact that I could exist outside of the school and actually had a mom and dad. Even when my dad finally arrived and was standing outside the door, my student stared out the window, giving my dad the evil eye and making him feel like he was teacher-napping me - stealing me away from the safety and protection of the school and my family of students. The workings of children's minds never cease to delight and surprise me. It is these moments of spontaneity that I am privileged to share in that bring such joy to being a teacher.
Of course what really amuses me is that with moving to Green School, I really will be living in the school - so the dilemma is: what do I say to my students now?
Read more about Sinead Lawson
Pardon Our Appearance
Image of our Flourishing Campus
 As part of our effort to create a vibrant community centered on life at the School, we are constructing several houses on our campus for faculty who are moving to Bali. The houses, made from natural materials such as bamboo, alang-alang grass, and mud walls, are located on the northeast part of the campus and are built in different shapes and sizes to accommodate both families with children and single faculty members.
About Green School
 Green School opens in September, 2008 for students in Preschool and Kindergarten through Year Eight, with highly talented students and faculty from communities in Bali and around the world. Our beautiful eight-hectare Kul-Kul Campus is located in Sibang Kaja, Bali, 15 minutes north of Denpasar or 20 minutes south of Ubud.
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