T , m F h S d 2021 › assets › 1-Green-School-Tulum...The first school, Green School Bali, was established in 2006. Green School New Zealand will open in 2020 and Green School South

Green School Tulum

Tulum, mexicoFoundinG head oF School

STarT daTe: Fall 2021 www.GreenSchool.orG

overview

Green School Tulum is a brand-new and one-of-a-kind endeavor. With the guidance of experienced school founders and visionaries, Green School Tulum plans to open in fall of 2021. It will be the fourth school to be established in the global Green School network. The first school, Green School Bali, was established in 2006. Green School New Zealand will open in 2020 and Green School South Africa will open in 2021.

Crafted on three hectares of lush jungle and cenotes, Green School Tulum will be a place that celebrates the individual while fostering a cohesive community of learners.

Green School Tulum will stand strong at the heart of a holistic residential project within the magical jungle of Tulum, a couple of miles away from the Caribbean Sea. Built out of low impact materials, Green School Tulum will incorporate bamboo and locally sourced woods and materials, as well as permaculture principles, into its operation and design. The school will be an extraordinary milestone for the local community, an inspiration for other schools in Mexico, and a reliable reference for the rest the world.

Respecting and embracing nature are at the core of the Green School experience, and, with that foundation, the school will offer students and their families a learning program unlike any other – one that prioritizes community well-being, a systems-thinking approach, and the development of problem-solving skills. Green School Tulum will prepare its graduates for the here and now by instilling in them the confidence and competence they need to have an impact on the world around them.

2The Search Group | Carney, Sandoe & Associates [email protected] | www.carneysandoe.com

The Green School WayWe educate for sustainability through community-integrated, entrepreneurial learning, in a natural environment. Our holistic, student-guided approach inspires and empowers us to be green leaders. This is the Green School Way.


Currently, Green School Tulum is seeking a Founding Head of School who is ready for a once in a lifetime opportunity. Strong candidates will be life-long learners who are action-oriented and passionate about environmental stewardship. The new Head will also be a deft communicator with strong interpersonal skills, and someone who can engage confidently with a variety of people and cultures.

The School

By design and intent, Green School Tulum will be a dynamic place where young people are always changing, growing, and learning. The curriculum will constantly evolve and embrace research-based, progressive learning principles designed to nurture the qualities and competencies to advance us all toward a sustainable future.

For today’s young people—who are social and curious and eager to experiment—the joys and challenges of our complex world are best explored by doing, engaging, and experiencing. There is no place for fear, and there must be room for mistakes along the way. These are among the stepping stones that nurture resilience and success. Green School believes in rigor and discipline, but it also believes that it is infinitely better to have those qualities grow within the child rather than be imposed on the child. The Green School community is convinced that the ethical, creative, entrepreneurial mind will best serve the damaged planet’s future and believes that young people should, therefore, develop holistically.

Green School staff and teachers will come from all corners of the globe, with a passion for education and the natural world. Teachers will be empowered to bring their passion, individual talents, and commitment to sustainability to the overarching curriculum. Green School teachers will be highly qualified and will have been involved in social, humanitarian, or environmental volunteering. Among them will be lawmakers, entrepreneurs, scientists, authors, designers, poets, and others.

In the words of the founder:

“We want children to be aware of the future for the environment and create a link with an emotional intuition, so that the world encourages them to admire the possibilities of life.” -John Hardy

Operating as a private, bilingual (English/Spanish) school, Green School Tulum will be an inspiring example of education for sustainability preparing today’s students for a changing world. The school will be driven by the Green School mission statement: Thrive with purpose. Green School Tulum will serve students in PreK through Middle School (8th grade) in its first year of operation, growing to become a PK-12 school. The school expects to open with 120 students and to grow to a total enrolment of 700 students by 2025.

ireSPecT valueS

Green School subscribes to a set of values captured by the acronym: iRESPECT. These are the values of: integrity, responsibility, equality, sustainability, peace, empathy, community, and trust. Green School encourages all teachers to honor and recognize these values in their students at all times with ongoing dialogue, discussions, and reinforcement.

• Integrity – being honest and ethical with thoughts and actions.• Responsibility – being accountable for thoughts, actions, and deeds.• Empathy – understanding and caring for the feelings of others.• Sustainability – ensuring that your own body and surroundings are cared for, so they are clean

and healthy for as long as possible.• Peace – contributing to a state of harmony.• Equality – respecting everyone as an equal and as an individual.• Community – being part of a group seeking common goals and taking care of each other. Trust-

building and maintaining strong relationships with each other, the school and the environment.



learninG ProGram

Green School is committed to a natural, holistic, student-centered learning environment that empowers and inspires students to be creative, innovative change-makers. Green School Tulum will educate young leaders in a global citizenship by championing a new model of learning that connects the timeless lessons from nature to focused preparation for a fast-changing future. The holistic learning at Green School will focus on “The Big Four” intelligences: the physical, emotional, intellectual, and expressive development of a child.The pedagogy to be used in Green School is based on three principles:

1. Thematic classes: cross disciplinary learning around a theme2. Proficiency classes: mathematics, English, science, humanities, and foreign languages.3. Experiential classes: enterprise, environmental studies, arts, health, and wellbeing.

This defines how the school will deliver the content of its courses in the classroom. This scaffold is designed to provide a consistent, relevant, well-rounded, and comprehensive learning experience, and forms the basis of the Green School curriculum and approach to learning.

In the primary years, the school architecture will inspire students to connect with the environment, chase adventure, and pursue their passions. Primary students will strive to master core competencies in math and literacy in a highly supportive learning environment. Student-guided, hands-on projects will promote entrepreneurial thinking, environmental education, practical skills, and the arts, while fostering students to become effective collaborators and communicators, empowered decision makers, and willing risk takers.

The intermediate program will give students the freedom and responsibility to build their own learning program. Students will have a significant amount of choice, while maintaining a firm grounding in foundational subjects. They will be able to choose their own arts, PE, and English literacy courses, empowering, supporting, and challenging them to take control of their own learning program. Throughout the intermediate years, Green School will focus on developing students’ critical thinking skills—to question, challenge, and seek to discover answers and solutions for themselves. The program will be structured and delivered to leverage the natural desire of this age group to become independent thinkers, to work with friends and peers, and to discover rather than to be told.

Across all grade levels, a comprehensive green studies and environmental science curriculum will evolve from ecology to sustainability, while connecting students to Green School’s local geographic and cultural context. The aim of the green studies curriculum will be to nurture respect for the natural world, heighten students’ environmental awareness and promote stewardship, and develop deep ecological values.

Talented arts professionals will develop and lead Green School’s creative arts curriculum. The arts programming will be richly influenced by its geographical location—the nearby natural and cultural features. Students will regularly explore several forms of creative arts, with curricular sophistication growing as students mature. At weekly assemblies, campus art galleries, and other community venues, students will have regular opportunities to display their art and perform in a supportive environment.

Green School will also offer a range of sporting, musical, cultural, artistic, and recreational activities after school, changing offerings from term-to term and including options for all age-groups.



Tulum, mexico

Tulum carries a palpable bohemian vibe and is located at the southern end of Mexico’s famed Riviera Maya. The town of Tulum, bisected by the coastal highway, is a stone’s throw from the sparkling sand and warm waters of the Caribbean Sea. About two hours south of Cancún, the town is no longer the hidden gem it once was and is now being developed with the construction of homes, condos, and commercial properties. The introduction of modern real estate and commercial spaces has caused the population to grow to approximately 20,000 and continues to rise as more people seek an affordable Caribbean lifestyle, a bit off the beaten path. Getting around in the central town area is relatively easy; walking and bicycling are both quite popular modes of transport. (Motor scooters are also popular for those who would rather not pedal around town.) The international airport in Cancún offers connections from all major airlines to major hubs across the globe. It is the second busiest airport after Mexico City, offering affordable deals and direct flights to many spots in the world.

The paved highway Cancún-Chetumal runs from Cancún to Playa del Carmen, Tulum, all the way to Chetumal, Quintana Roo, connecting towns and hotels all across the Mayan riviera.

Tulum in the past was known as Zamá, which means “rebirth or “dawn” in Mayan, alluding to the location of the city that points to the east where the sun rises every day. Tulum is a name that was given by modern explorers of the 19th century that means “wall.”

Tulum at its peak (11th and 15th century) functioned as a central node of sea routes that extended throughout Mexico and South America. Tulum’s history carries global significance; visitors and residents say they can still feel the presence of the ancient Mayan culture. There are many spectacular archeological sites that give an impressive testament to this once powerful civilization.

Tulum’s present-day reputation as a spectacular vacation destination with a growing expat community, is spot-on. Tulum offers a tropical climate with temperatures averaging 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Residents enjoy warm, turquoise Caribbean water; a sparkling, perfect beach; and an offshore reef—the second-most important in the world—that provides plentiful opportunities for fishing, scuba diving, and snorkeling.

On that note, The Yucatan Peninsula is said to have over 6,000 known cenotes and many of those can be found in Tulum. Some of them require special cave diving certifications to access, but there are several cenotes where snorkeling and simple explorations are an option. One of the most popular cenotes is known as the car wash, and is a peaceful location with an open top, stalagmites, lots of plants and fish, as well as a bevy of beautiful lily pads.

Tulum is a place with a rich, meaningful past and an abundance of natural beauty. This combination of history and environment makes it a spectacular place to be—and an essential place to protect. Tulum can be considered Mexico’s first sustainable tourism zone with a lot of amazing things going on—and where Green School Tulum will be holding a very important role.

People from all over the world visit Tulum to experience its magic. With strong ties to its Indigenous roots, epic landscapes that stretch from beach to jungle, and an unmistakably charged atmosphere of humming creativity, the city is intimately connected to the rhythms of the earth.



Governance

In terms of governance, the Head of School will report to a four-member local Board of Governors. (The Green Schools organization also has a Board that is based in Singapore.)

oPPorTuniTieS and challenGeS

• Green School Tulum’s learning program prioritizes well-being, systems-thinking, and problem-solving.

• The school will prepare students now for making an impact; level of confidence and ability kids are given prepared for future.

• Community – active & involved parents; all have collective belief that you can learn and make a difference.

• The environment – being part of nature half the time; connection with planet.• The biggest opportunity for the Founding Head will be fostering holistic learning and creating a

place where the individual is celebrated while working in a collective body.• There will be an opportunity to change the approach to education.• The Founding Head will be challenged to explain to parents how the Green School approach

to learning, while different than the traditional approach, prepares students who are not only confident and articulate problem-solvers but confidently master content.

• The Founding Head needs to be able to recruit, develop, and retain an exceptional faculty.• The Founding Head needs to attract, lead, and empower a strong administrative team.• The Founding Head needs to think boldly about sustainability education and leadership

opportunities for students at Green School network and beyond.


deSired QualiTieS and QualiFicaTionS

• A community builder who can form relationships very well.• A good listener and communicator; someone who is empathetic with parents and can talk through

their concerns.• A lifelong learner with experience as a Head of a successful and well-performing school;

international experience preferred.• Expertise in curriculum design and pedagogy.• An action-oriented leader, who can design, initiate, and follow through on plans, not someone

who sits around philosophizing.• Someone who is passionate about sustainability and recognizes that there must be a profound

shift in attitude.• A leader who is humble and optimistic, with a strong emphasis on values and culture.• Someone comfortable working with a proprietary organization.• A courageous leader with good judgement and a strong internal compass.• Fluency in Spanish and work experience in Mexico is a plus.

To aPPly

Interested and qualified candidates should submit electronically in one email and as separate documents (preferably PDFs) the following materials:

• A cover letter expressing their interest in this specific position;• A current résumé;• A one-page statement of educational philosophy and practice;• A list of five professional references with name, phone number, and email address of each

(references will not be contacted without the candidate’s permission) to:

Art CharlesManaging Associate, International [email protected]

Rachel Friis StettlerSenior [email protected]


Documents

T , m F h S d 2021 › assets › 1-Green-School-Tulum...The first school, Green School Bali, was established in 2006. Green School New Zealand will open in 2020 and Green School South