We are Ak Lu'um
At Ak Lu’um we know that homeschooling and schooling (the child's second home) is the key to change. If we wish to live harmoniously and without causing further destruction, the need for fundamental change is evident. This is our Waldorf philosophy: an innovative curriculum and a way of working rooted in a deep understanding of the human being, strengthening the connection between the rhythms of nature and the faculties that distinguish us as human beings.
Our education combines strong values with the capacity for wonder of the world around us, communicates with the emerging personality of children and endows them with imagination, flexibility and internal strength to face the changing outside world.
Our goal is to create and enrich:
Our goal is to create and enrich a Waldorf school and community, which integrates children from diverse cultural and economic backgrounds and where teachers, students and parents can support and educate each other.
A quality, non-profit school that opens its doors to children of different learning abilities, educating their head, heart and hands.
A self-sustaining school where all members of the community can learn and develop ecological strategies for the future.
We encourage openness of heart, mind and spirit in a multicultural environment. We seek to harvest the seeds of positive, ethical, independent and compassionate life attitudes.
These attitudes require teachers and parents who are prepared, talented and experienced in the world, committed to changing the world.
In our community we work to achieve:
* Clear and conscious thinking
* Rhythm and social harmony
* Artistic sense
* Love of learning
* Creativity
* Independence and self-confidence
* Ability to solve problems
* Resilience
* Self-discipline
* Ecological awareness
Campus, Sustainable and Ecological Community
Ak Lu’um Waldorf Community is located 8 km. from the center of Playa del Carmen to the north, next to Sac Be community. The school was built ecologically conscious, in the middle of the jungle and using traditional materials, techniques and building designs from the region. The organic character of the project is reflected in the school buildings and auxiliary spaces that nest in the jungle. Our existing campus opened in 2018 and will continue to be in development for years to come.
Today, in harmony with our environment, waste is separated and recycled. We make organic compost on an ongoing basis, and encourage community members to do the same.
We use only solar energy and generate our own water resources.
We encourage parents to practice the 3 Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
- Early childhood homes that feature organic materials (i.e. wooden blocks, baskets, fabrics, nuts, ropes, snails, etc.) and access to water
- Grades classrooms equipped with musical instruments and reading areas, and spacious rooms with good ventilation.
- Early childhood playground with wooden climbing games and play house
- Grades playground with open areas for play and rest areas
- Garden used as part of the curriculum to study plants and grow fruits, vegetables and herbs for school lunch
- Common area for musical, theatrical and festival activities, plus office and warehouses.
- Offices and warehouses
- Nature trail within the school grounds
History
Ak Lu’um Waldorf School started in September 2006 in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Founded by Siobhan Bowers and Gabriela Nuñez, the initiative began with five children in a house on the outskirts of Playa del Carmen.
Since the beginning, the main objective has been to provide quality, holistic education to all the families who sought it, regardless of academic capacity, financial ability or cultural background.
In 2008, Ak Lu’um inaugurated its jungle campus, an ecological, solar-powered, sustainable school.
At the beginning of the year 2018, untouched land was acquired in Sac Hua Cax, located in the northern area of Playa del Carmen. This new campus now serves as the definitive campus of all activities related to our beloved community.
Mission, Vision, Values
Mission
Through Waldorf pedagogy and Anthroposophy, we take on the important task of educating people with independent thinking who are able to face life with wonder, courage, initiative and creativity. Our commitment is to teach through gestures, words and actions that are based on respect, dedication and integrity by offering an education that is coherent, valuable and meaningful.
At Ak Lu'um we strive to achieve these goals:
* Family and community life
* A healthy developing childhood
* Joy when it comes to learning
* An education focused on the unity of body, soul and spirit
* Intellectual excellence, imagination, robust memory and problem-solving skills
* Alternatives to stressful exams
* Age-appropriate use of media
* Development of moral and ethical judgment
* The beauty of our environment as a formative current in the life of the child
Vision
Our greatest intention is to be a Waldorf School, sustainable, consciously ecological, that opens its doors to families from anywhere in the world, thus promoting multiculturalism and inclusion to build a community that grows in harmony and respect with nature in the jungle of the Riviera Maya; and that it is distinguished primarily by its hard work in forming free human beings who, through goodness, beauty, and truth, give meaning to their lives.
Values
Community is at the heart of our school. Together students, parents, colleagues and friends strive to create an environment that enriches and inspires the human spirit with: Goodness, Beauty and Truth.
These values guide our professional development and behavior:
* Freedom
* Respect
* Discipline
* Goodness
* Beauty
* Truth
* Union
* Inspiration
* Creativity
* Respect for nature
* Conscious thinking
Philosophy
Ak Lu'um Community is a Waldorf initiative based on the anthroposophical teachings of the humanist philosopher Rudolf Steiner. In order to educate free human beings, we believe in supporting the child's natural developmental stages. We use the truth and beauty of the natural world to form the child, encouraging him to develop observation and reverence for life. Teachers provoke the enthusiasm for learning that lives in every child. The subjects are worked on in an imaginative and dynamic way which makes motivation for prizes or competitive exams unnecessary. Children's motivation is born from themselves (as they will have to as adults) and they can gain the ability to enjoy learning throughout their lives.
For example, in an effort to be in harmony with our environment, we separate the garbage, compost permanently and encourage our community to do so as well. Our electricity and water resources are generated and treated 100% in Ak Lu'um.
Staff
A good teacher is the most valuable resource a school has. It is indispensable that teachers are constantly learning: teaching becomes an infinitely richer process if teachers are also learning.
Professional development improves learning for all students, and it further improves skills, knowledge and self-awareness for teachers. All teachers are students of Anthroposophy and committed to widening their consciousness and educating with soul.
All our teaching staff is (or is) working towards being:
- First-Aid trained
- Qualified as Teachers, or Support Staff
- Trained in Waldorf Education. Qualified in Special Needs Education
- Bilingual (English / Spanish)
GABRIELA
FUNDADORA, MAESTRA DE CENTRO DE LA PRIMERA INFANCIA
UNAM Pedagogue, Anthroposophical Artistic Therapist, Founder of Ak Lu'um Waldorf Community, Gabriela has worked with children for 20 years always seeking to make a change in the world. The greatest gift she has experienced is being able to accompany the development of each child and be amazed day by day at the beauty within each human being.
DAYANA
EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHER
Psychologist and Waldorf teacher in training. With immense affection for letters and the world of languages. She is grateful to be part of an ideology that observes human beings with the nobility and value that is inherent to them.
ROMMY Sandoval Gutiérrez
Sandoval Gutiérrez, a graduate of the National Polytechnic Institute in business relations with 10 years of experience in government schools. With the intention of achieving a different education, Rommy began her journey at Ak Lu'um. She worked as a teacher in the kindergarten for 5 years. Currently her work is in the area of meal preparation. Her work in nutrition has nurtured her personally as well as professionally. Rommy has two sons Loreto and Rodrigo who are in the upper grade. Together, they have been able to live the magical experience of growing and learning about the beautiful philosophy and community at Ak Lu’um. She is grateful every day for this great opportunity.
ALIRIA
Since she was eight years old she studied in CECUNY, she graduated as a piano player from the institute Centro de Música Jacinto Cuevas (CEMUS) from the ESAY, she also enrolled in Escuela Superar de Artes de Yucatáb, studying and learning from great teachers recognized in Mexico. Since 1998 she loves to teach 4 year old children and she also participates as a teachers in Instituto Musical Filarmónica en Mérida, and also children from 6 years old and on. She joined the Ak Lu'um family on January 2022.
URSULA
Originally from Guanajuato, Mexico, she graduated with a degree in tourism administration. Her love for the ocean led her to live in Playa del Carmen in 2010 and after several years working in sales, she started working at Ak Lu'um in 2021 in the admissions department.
She is the mother of 2 little ones in kindergarten. She is a lover of nature and animals. Ursula is always eager to help the community and offer a welcoming smile.
FRANJA
MOVEMENT TEACHER
Franja is Brazilian and has more than 30 years in the practice of capoeira teaching children and adults. His interest in spatial dynamics, an anthroposophical branch of the movement, and love of teaching have been an important combination for his success.
Yanet
Yanet Quintanilla Tinajero, Waldorf mother, teacher and lover of performing arts and music. She is passionate about the knowledge of the spiritual world. She seeks to accompany the child and show them through manual arts the strength of will and the patience that is contained in the individual and collective being.
MARIANA
EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHER
Mariana Jordan Rabbi Baldi arrived at Ak Lu'um in 2021 to focus her work on degrees. She comes from Argentina, where she trained as a Waldorf teacher and delved into different branches of Anthroposophy. She sees her purpose as to accompany not only the children in grades, but also their families and thus build a bridge between the educational and the social aspects that must live healthily within a community.
What is Waldorf?
With more than 900 Waldorf schools and 1,600 Waldorf early childhood programs on five continents, Waldorf education is truly global, not only in scope, but also in approach. Wherever it is found, the Waldorf curriculum cultivates among its students a deep appreciation for cultural traditions from around the world while at the same time being deeply rooted in its local culture and context.
Waldorf schools offer a balanced, developmentally appropriate approach to education that integrates arts and academics for children from preschool through twelfth grade. It fosters the development of each child's sense of truth, beauty, and goodness and provides an antidote to violence, alienation, and cynicism. The goal of education is to instill in each student a lifelong love of learning and enable them to fully develop their unique abilities.
For the Waldorf student, music, dance and drama, writing, literature, legends and myths are not just subjects to be ingested and tasted. They have experience. Through these experiences, Waldorf students cultivate a lifelong love of learning, as well as the intellectual, emotional, physical, and spiritual capacities to be confident individuals and serve the world.
Developed by Rudolf Steiner in 1919, Waldorf education is based on a deep understanding of human development that addresses the needs of the growing child. Waldorf teachers strive to transform education into an art that educates the whole child: through the heart, hands, and head.
The enthusiasm and commitment of the teachers you meet is common in Waldorf schools. These teachers are interested in students as individuals. They are interested in the questions:
* How do we establish within each child their own high level of academic excellence?
* How do we foster enthusiasm for learning and work, healthy self-awareness, interest and concern for fellow human beings, and respect for the world?
* How can we help students find meaning in their lives?
Teachers in Waldorf schools are dedicated to generating an inner enthusiasm for learning within each child. They accomplish this in various ways. Even seemingly dry and academic subjects are presented in a pictorial and dynamic way. This eliminates the need for competitive testing, academic placement, and behavioral rewards to motivate learning. It allows motivation to come from within and helps engender the capacity for lifelong learning.
The Waldorf curriculum is broad and comprehensive, structured to respond to the three phases of childhood development: birth to approximately 6 or 7 years of age, 7 to 14 years of age, and 14 to 18 years of age.
Waldorf schools are part of an international movement, although they are not part of a regulated organization. The schools are united by a shared dedication to the Waldorf curriculum and pedagogy and by the belief that this schooling can help children become free-thinking, socially responsible and willing adults. In this way, families have found Waldorf education to be a truly global curriculum united around the world in its unique vision of child development. Each school, however, is independent and autonomous, and has its own distinctive characteristics.
When the first Waldorf school was founded in 1919, there was no headmaster. Instead, the faculty shared responsibility for running the school. Today teachers and staff meet weekly and with a chairperson, elected for a limited term. They make decisions regarding the social, administrative and educational life of the school. Faculty and staff also study particular aspects of Waldorf education together. The College of Teachers is made up of faculty and staff members who are particularly committed to the fate of the school. This group is responsible for educational policies and the management of human and material resources.
To maintain the freedom to provide the Waldorf curriculum and to preserve this governance of collaborative leadership, Waldorf schools are independent from the state. Therefore, the operating cost must be covered by parent tuition payments, donations, and gifts. However, the Waldorf movement is concerned that education be available to all committed parents without financial barriers.
Parent and Community Involvement
Beyond a day of school, we are an educational community. Our students' families are involved in the development and growth of Ak Lu'um. Teamwork is vital. The home-school bond needs to be very strong and revitalized on an ongoing basis. Reaching consensual decisions is our intention.
The Faculty of Teachers works collaboratively and through consensus, as do parent committees. The contribution of each one is considered and evaluated since the results of working in this way are greater than the sum of the individual contributions.
We seek to build our community in the following way:
Pedagogical Boards
Parents attend pedagogical meetings throughout the year. This is an excellent opportunity for teachers and parents to come together to explore Waldorf education and their children's developmental stages, as well as focus on addressing issues that concern the group and thus strengthen teamwork.
Personal Development
There are lectures and workshops during the school year given by experts in Waldorf education, health, ecology, etc. for both parents and teachers. We welcome parents to share their knowledge and expertise with the community.
Parent Schools
We hope that parents will actively participate to deepen their knowledge of Waldorf pedagogy.
Social Events
Sometimes the school organizes simple events with the sole purpose of getting to know each other and spending the afternoon together.
Fundraising
The payments of the monthly contributions allow those children from humble families to have access to this healing education. However, like any Waldorf school, we also rely on fundraising to subsidize the school's day-to-day life. There are several fundraising events in the year organized and carried out by teachers and parents.
School Trips
Sometimes parents participate in these excursions.
Parent Committee (PTA)
A group of parents has been formed to facilitate communication between parents and propose and conduct social and fundraising events.
Newsletter
It is published weekly and distributed by email.
Mercadito
Every Wednesday there is a market where students, families and friends from school sell food and handcrafts. Part of the proceeds goes to the school fundraising efforts.
Affiliations
Ak Lu'um is affiliated with the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA) and the Association of Early Childhood Centers of North America (WECAN) and we receive training and evaluation visits from Waldorf experts from around the world. The heart and soul of our curriculum is based entirely on the Waldorf model, enriched by the international and local Mayan culture of our community.
Ak Lu'um is not incorporated into the SEP (Secretariat of Public Education), and the students validate their primary studies by the INEA.
