Creating a school from scratch

Colina Learning Center, Romania

We supported a small team to design Colina Noua Learning Center's purpose, values, vision, learning model and curriculum, from scratch, entirely online during the pandemic. Today, the school is thriving with a curriculum centered on a personalised approach, that inspires learning for life, beyond exams.

With a Masters in Education, a background in business and previous experience of building from the ground up to establish one of the finest schools in Bucharest, Colina’s Founder, Andreia Mitrea, has every credential for success. Inspired (but dismayed) by the statistic that only 6% of what we learn through formal and traditional education remains with us long-term, Andreia’s vision was for a school where learners received an education that would prepare them for the life they want to lead – and where parents and other significant adult role models would be part of the journey. The result is the Colina Learning Center in Romania.

Involving, serving and supporting parents and other significant adults, as well as the children, was our critical first step in creating a dual curriculum that would involve the whole family in dynamic learning and support. We became learners ourselves, looking around the world to discover the best teaching and learning techniques and tools, and ditching the rest. Inspired by Andreia’s belief that it doesn’t just take a village to bring up a child, but it takes a great village to bring up a child well – in her words, ‘a community of beautify minds’ – we created a dual curriculum that supports both children and adults to learn... and to learn how to learn in a way that suits them best.