Adelita Jimenez, Founding Director.
Adelita is a native Costa Rican. She co-founded the school after working for several years as Spanish professor and later as administrative director in a San José language school. After her original degree in education, she went on to study business with an emphasis in public relations at the Universidad Interamericana in Heredia. She has attended numerous seminars in the area of business administration and management at Harvard Extension School, and second language acquisition nationally and abroad. In her free time she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, travelling, boogie-boarding and nature exploration.

Laura Ellington, Founding Director.
Laura was born in Switzerland, grew up in England, then moved to the US, where she completed her BA in English Literature with a minor in teaching Spanish as a Second Language, from Skidmore College. She has RSA/CELTA Teaching Certification from Cambridge University, and a Post-Graduate Certificate in English-Spanish translation and linguistics from the Universidad Internacional de las Américas, Costa Rica. Her MA is in Cultural Anthropology, from the City University of New York- Hunter College. Before settling in Costa Rica, Laura lived and worked in the US, Nepal, Indonesia and France. She has participated in numerous conferences on Second Language Acquisition and Cross-Cultural Identity and Education, in Costa Rica and abroad. She is bilingual Spanish-English, and speaks French and German. In her free time she enjoys reading, Latin dance, biking and swimming at Sámara's beautiful beach.



Marcelo Arroyo, Executive Director and
Spanish Department Director.
Marcelo is a Costa Rica native and has worked with the school since 1994, first as a Spanish professor and now as the department head and the school's executive director. He is in charge of teacher training and runs Intercultura's ongoing professional development series. He has a BA and Licenciatura in Literature, Linguistics, and Education from the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, where he then went on to obtain two Master's degrees, one in Teaching Spanish as a Second Language and, other in Adult Education. He has completed coursework towards a PhD in linguistics, specializing in Central American Spanish dialects and Mayan and Chibcha indigenous languages, and is a faculty member for the Post-Graduate program in Education at the National University. He has been a speaker at numerous conferences, nationally and internationally and is the co-author of the Intercultura Spanish textbooks. In addition, Marcelo organizes Intercultura's Cultural Events Calendar, and is himself a performer of National Folkloric Dance and Music. He speaks fluent English.




Bethany Kirk, English Department Director
Bethany is from Sonora, California, near Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevadas. She holds two bachelor’s degrees in Spanish and Physical Education, minors in English and music, and a California CLAD teaching credential. Her Master’s degree is in English with a dual concentration in TESOL and Rhetoric & Teaching Writing. Before coming to Costa Rica, Bethany taught for ten years in High School and College English (composition, grammar, ESL and remedial) classes. After teaching ESL in Costa Rica for a year, she was promoted within her school to Academic Director and decided to stay. Wanting to move from San Jose after several years in order to experience another place in Costa Rica, she moved to Heredia to direct the English department at Intercultura in 2009, and is honored and excited to be a part of the Intercultura team. Bethany is passionate about teaching, and she enjoys working with teachers to help them experience success in the classroom. Outside of work, Bethany loves reading, writing, swimming, hiking, yoga, traveling, socializing, and playing the piano and guitar. She is dedicated to improving her [already fluent!] Spanish and seeing as much of Costa Rica as she can.


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