Category: Commentary

Photo: Jen Dubie with Executive Director Sofia Gallis Jen Dubie joined Clonlara as development director in March 2023. In her role, she supports Clonlara’s mission by creating impactful connections that help us meet our fundraising goals, from securing grants to organizing events and nurturing relationships…

Whether you planned on homeschooling from the start or came to it from another route, like a traditional school, congratulations on starting your new adventure! There’s a lot to look forward to. You might already be enjoying slower mornings, trips to museums, and time spent…

Off-campus student Jack M. knows from experience what it takes to bring an idea from dream to reality. In this blog post, he shares some practical, hard-won advice to help his fellow students do the same! Hi, my name is Jack. I’m a 15-year-old elite-level…

Learning can be formal, informal, or anywhere in between. Formal learning is planned, and it often includes set curricula and tests. Informal learning is generally spontaneous and based on real-life experiences. At Clonlara, we believe students learn best with a personalized combination of the two.…

Parents play a crucial role in the facilitation of learning, and, according to developmental psychologist Gordon Neufeld, can create the context in which learning occurs. At Clonlara, we believe building strong family relationships prepares students to realize their full potential, educationally and beyond.  Loida Cañizares Doménech,…

When looking to improve the educational experience of our children, we often search for the perfect curriculum, ideal program, or most dynamic teacher. We spend a lot of time seeking the best solution to grow our children academically, but what if the key to educational…

When March 2020 began, few families could have imagined the effect COVID-19 would have on their experience of school, work, and life. Under the assumption everything would get “back to normal” in a few weeks, many were happy to try working remotely, socializing via Zoom,…

By Inês Peceguina, Guest Author One of Clonlara School’s most fundamental beliefs is that children learn best when their interests guide their activities. Thus, for a student to learn a subject at a deeper level, they must be actively engaged in the learning process. However,…

By Clonlara School We’ve said it before, and it bears repeating: “Not enough can be said about the importance of play.” In fact, play is so important that we have always made time for it at Clonlara School, even when the trend in traditional education has…

By Carrie Lafferty, Off-Campus Program Advisor When I think back on the days before we adopted our son, I was filled with fear. Would he be healthy? Would we like each other? Would he want to be a part of our family? Would I be…