Our Students

Who Our Students Are

All Mayatan Bilingual School students are Hondurans living in and around the town of Copán Ruinas. Pre-Kindergartners may be as young as 4, and high school students may be 18 years of age.

Our student body represents a diverse range of backgrounds and social classes, and for many of them, a bilingual education represents a path out of poverty and a step up in the world. Mayatan also attracts students who can pay full tuition and middle class students who, without financial aid and Mayatan's affordability compared to other bilingual schools, would not be able to attain a bilingual education.

Dedicated to Learning

Bilingual education is truly a life-transforming opportunity, and families in and around Copán recognize its importance, pooling resources and taking an active involvement in their child's education. Some Mayatan students go to great lengths every day to receive this gift, from elementary school students living in remote villages who must walk 3 miles just to catch the bus, to students who lodge in town during the week to make their education possible.

Many of our students are the first in their families to learn English, and entire households often depend upon one student to pass on his or her skills and knowledge to siblings and other family members. This pattern continues when Mayatan students become the first in their families to graduate from high school, attend college, or secure high-paying work that requires English skills. In such cases, Mayatan students can use their education to help entire extended families, just as extended families and foreign sponsors often contribute to fund a single child's Mayatan education.

• Over 40% of the students at Mayatan Bilingual School receive financial assistance.
• 7% come from outlying Ch'orti villages, small communities of indigenous Maya descendants. These families are usually subsistence farmers with very little land ownership or capital. We operate a full financial aid program for these children, including tuition and fees, meals, transportation, books, shoes, uniforms, and often lunch.
• 7% are from the poorest families in and around the town of Copán Ruinas and are receiving full tuition scholarships. Some sponsors even contribute to books, fees, transportation, and other costs.
• 26% who come from families able to contribute in some way to their child’s education but unable to afford the full school fees and receive assistance with their tuition costs ranging from 50% to 100%.

Our hope at Mayatan Bilingual School is to continually expand our ability to educate as many children as possible, and we rely on the support of our community, including our friends from abroad, to help us achieve this.

To find out more about how your contribution can help bring to bilingual education to students from rural Honduras, please see the Support Us section of this website.