Welcome from the General Director
Daniel Allen

Lincoln School General Director
Welcome to Lincoln School, where we are celebrating 75 years of excellence in education in Costa Rica. Our students, parents, staff, and alumni continue to set the standard for quality education in Costa Rica and the world, blending a US style education with a strong commitment to our Costa Rican history and culture.
At Lincoln School, we offer a broad selection of high quality programs and enrichment opportunities to our students, from the International Baccalaureate (IB) program, to championship sports teams, to the integration of music and the arts at all grade levels. We offer a premier academic program, with graduates going on to study at some of the most prestigious universities in Costa Rica and around the world. Yet while we take great pride in our outstanding educational program, what matters most to us is instilling in our students the values and mindset necessary to act as leaders who will go forward to promote social development and innovation, provide economic growth and stability, and ensure equity and opportunity in our communities, nation, and beyond.
To that end, our Lincoln school team is in the midst of a transformation to integrate the habits of entrepreneurial thinking with the attributes of the IB Learner Profile. We want our students to be caring and principled, capable of observing problems and challenges around them and then applying their best thinking and creative energy to design and implement solutions that make a positive difference in the lives of others. We want to measure our success as a school, not by graduation rates or test scores alone, but by the transformative impact our graduates have in making the world a better place.
At Lincoln, our motto of “Inspiring People” is simple but powerful. By definition, to inspire is to “fill someone with the urge or ability to do or feel something.” Our goal is to prepare graduates with both the desire and the ability to be game-changers and action-takers for good. We hope you will come join us in that work.
Onward,
Daniel Allen, Ed.D., NBCT
General Director
Governance Structure
Gorvernance Structure
Assembly of Associates
Lincoln School is governed by the assembly of associates. Every family gets to be associated by a representative that will participate in the assemblies or be represented by a power of attorney.
The assembly of associates meets once a year to elect the board of directors and vote on important decisions regarding all school aspects.
Board of Directors
The board of directors is elected by the assembly and represents all associates following the school statutes. It is composed of eleven members and a fiscal.
- Marilis Pinto Barzuna – President
- Federico Chavez Saenz – Vicepresident
- Luis Artavia Gutiérrez – Treasurer
- Erica Araya Escalante – Secretary
- Jose Antonio Sauma Uribe – Vocal I
- Orlando Ortiz Odio – Vocal II
- Shannon Music Gamboa – Vocal III
- Mónica Orlich Ventura – Vocal IV
- Osvaldo Mora González – Vocal V
- Diana Montero Hernández – Vocal VI
- Sergio Santisteban Stone – Fiscal
Committees
Lincoln also has board committees that can be composed of associates and Lincoln Parents. We have permanent and Ad Hoc committees that help achieve goals and strategic objectives. Board committees respond directly to the board of directors. Some of our board committees are:
- Education
- Finance
- Buildings and grounds
- Scholarship
History
Lincoln History
The beginning of a dream
In 1945, a group of visionary Costa Rican parents and US immigrants
founded Lincoln School to provide a bicultural and bilingual education for their children. Since its foundation in a small house in Barrio La California in San José and its long-term location in Moravia where the Lincoln dream became a reality, to its actual campus of 7 hectares (17.3 acres) in Barrio El Socorro, San Miguel de Santo Domingo de Heredia.
Lincoln School has been a leader in co-educational private instruction in Central America. Starting with 136 students in 1945, Lincoln has grown to an outstanding current enrollment of 1,500 students. Throughout Lincoln’s history up to the present, students come from a variety of countries and represent a wide spectrum of religions and cultures, thereby enriching the learning environment and giving the school population a multicultural emphasis, a vital tool that allows them to have a better understanding of today’s globalized world. Lincoln is a non-profit, private educational institution offering programs from Preschool to 12th grade.
Mission & Vision
Mission and Vision
Mission
Lincoln School, the leading innovator in 21st century education, empowers students to positively impact local and global communities.
Vision:
Excellence through innovation, integrity and leadership.
Strategic Plan 2016 – 2021:Lincoln School Strategic Plan







Community Values
We believe….
We believe….
- in the role of education in creating a positive society.
- in the potential of young people.
- in building positive relationships.
- we need to model behaviors we want to see in others.
- every individual deserves respect and fairness.
- the most important resource in a school is its people.
- the meaning in one’s life is related to the change you make in others.




