AVE MARIA, FL., — April 4, 2016 – Ave Maria Development is pleased to announce Ave Maria International School opening this fall in Ave Maria’s Park of Commerce. Lead educator and owner, Alexandra Castro, has a combined 26+ years of dynamic teaching experience. Ms. Castro taught 26 years as a bilingual international teacher at IB schools in Madrid, Spain; Austin, Texas; Santiago, Chile; and as a teacher visitor in China; Vancouver, Canada; Athens, Greece; Dublin, Ireland; and Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The mission of AIS is to provide high-quality educational experiences inspired by the Reggio Emilia Approach and curriculum based upon International Baccalaureate Program (IB)/Primary Years Program (PYP). AIS creates physically, socially, and emotionally aware confident critical thinkers, and problem solvers through interactive hands-on nature and project-based learning. Parents may choose between Spanish, French and Mandarin as an additional language for their children and the option of having extra support for ELL (English Language Learners) students and families. Sports and physical education is one of the important aspects at AIS. Students will learn tennis, basketball, bocce, baseball, and soccer throughout the school year.

The School will be open regular hours, Monday through Friday from 8am-3pm. Early drop off program will be from 7-8am with extended care from 3-5pm. The enrollment and registration process for students from two years old to five years old (including Voluntary Prekindergarten Education program) will begin on April 15th. The maximum capacity, for the 2016-2017 school year will be 50 students.
“Ave International School is more than a preschool,” states Ms. Castro. “To have the first IB/PYP Pre School in Collier County combined with Reggio Emilia approach, is a great asset to the vibrant Ave Maria community.”

To learn more about Ave Maria International School please contact Alexandra Castro at director@aveschool.org or at AIS Facebook page: http://ow.ly/ZVuxO
To learn more about the IB Program please visit: http://www.ibo.org/
To learn more about VPK Program please visit: http://www.vpkhelp.org/?page_id=3356
To learn more about Reggio Emilia Approach please visit: http://www.reggiochildren.it/?lang=en

ABOUT AVE MARIA & DIRECTIONS
Ave Maria has been named 2015 Community of the Year, the Top Selling Single-Family Home Community in Southwest Florida, a Top 50 Master Planned Community in the United States and its active adult community, Del Webb Naples, has been named a Top 20 Places to Retire. Located in southwest Florida, minutes from the beaches and cultural attractions of Naples, Ave Maria is a self-sustaining town including highly-rated schools, shopping and dining, employment opportunities, parks and recreation, and more. At its build out, the town will include up to 11,000 residences, and 1.7 million square feet of retail, office, and business park uses in its 4,000 acres. Ave Maria is located at the intersection of Oil Well and Camp Keais Roads in Eastern Collier County. The main entrance, on Oil Well just west of Camp Keais, leads to the Town Center. Take I-75, exit 111, follow the signs east to Ave Maria, approximately 20 minutes. For more information, please visit www.avemaria.com or call 239-352-3903.