Základná Škola Narnia – A Christian based, English intensive, elementry school in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia

GREEN CLASS

…We have a new classroom with an old name – Green class. In fact, only one more year and then we will say goodbye to this name, as well as to our teacher Monika. But not yet, we are still here – twenty-five sweet, smart, curious, talkative, handy, sometimes too slow, sometimes too fast (especially over the breaks) children with these names: Katka, Maťko, Šimi, Natálka, Anička, Aďko, Tobik, Samko, Anežka, Stanka, Danielka, Maťko, Danielka, Matúš, Danko, Matúš, Natálka, Matej, Oliver, Kiko, Peťka, Dorotka, Katuška, Kika and Peťko.
…There are 10 months ahead of us. We believe that at least 10 of them will be full of adventure.

We are seeking individuals and institutions that would like to assist in our efforts to purchase the property for Narnia Elementary School. We would welcome your involvement in our mission too. There are several ways you can help:

Contributions to the Bank Account

You can send your gift directly to the school’s bank account:

• Bank Address: VUB, a.s., Mlynske Nivy 1, 829 90 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
• Swift Code / BIC: SUBASKBX
• IBAN: SK11 0200 0000 0022 0743 1659
• Recipient’s Address: ZS Narnia, Okruzna 2, 974 04 Banska Bystrica, Slovak Republic
• Message for recipient: 525 Narnia Donation

Tax-deductible donations to the project

Another way is to make a tax-deductible donation through Faith and Learning International. Whether you’re making a one-time gift via your credit card, checking account or savings account, you can use safe and secure eGiving option at www.faithandlearning.org.

Contact us

If you are interested in other ways you can support the mission of our local church (Cirkev Bratská, member IFFEC) in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, or you would like to help us through your advice or prayer, please do not hesitate to contact us.

You can send an email directly to the founder representative Slavo Poloha (slavo.poloha@narniabb.sk) or contact the school principal Dana Hanesova (riaditelka@narniabb.sk).

Thank you for your interest and support.

The morning of September 10th, teachers, parents and grandparents alike gathered in the parking lot of Narnia Elementary School as Dana Hanesová, school principal, lead the opening ceremony welcoming a mixture of 148 new and returning students to the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year.

”Welcome back!” said Mrs. Hanesova. “We’ve been looking forward to seeing you again!” Mrs. Hanesova went on to share with those present how Narnia came to receive its name as well as the school motto: The further up and the further in you go, the bigger everything gets.

Mrs. Hanesova was followed by Slávo Poloha, co-founder of Narnia, who shared a story from the Bible about the nation of Israel. After reading the passage, Mr. Poloha shared that Isreal was facing a situation that seemed to be unsolvable but God rescued them. He continued on to say that in Narnia´s six years of existence there have been many times of experiencing God’s help and protection when things seemed impossible. As Narnia seeks to find the funds to purchase the facilities it’s currently renting, the leadership is trusting and relying upon God’s continued help in this need.

This year Narnia continues to grow with adding seventh grade and welcoming a new group of first graders! Miss Jana Mackova and Mr. Kamil Bartko, both teachers at Narnia, MC’d the introduction of each class and their teachers as each grade came forward and received their new class t-shirt. Parents and Grandparents stood by smiling, taking pictures, clapping for and waving to their son or daughter, and enjoying the positive atmosphere of the morning.

This particular school year was an exciting one for the history of Narnia as the school was able to rent and move into the school building next door to the old facility in order to comfortably house the expanding school. In honor of the new building, Narnia held a ribbon cutting ceremony in which two students, Nina Kostov and Lukas Podhorsky, who were awarded the title of „Narnia hero“ at the end of the 2011-2012 school year, assisted in cutting the tape and officially opening the school year! Students, eagerly awaiting the chance to explore the new building, entered freshly painted classrooms guided by their teachers where they met new classmates and learned about news for the 2012/13 school year. Students received tours of the school, learning where new facilities were such as the library, playroom, laboratory and after-school clubroom. Lunch was held in the cafeteria on the campus grounds and then students enjoyed taking advantage of time together during the afternoon school club.

Narnia’s administrative and teaching staff are thankful to God and all the parents and grandparents as well as many school friends for helping us celebrate this very special and very unique day. We also want to send a big thank you for all the help we received with moving, painting and cleaning the new facilities the two weeks before school started.

Now that school has officially stared, we can continue on this adventurous journey – The further up and the further in you go, the bigger everything gets.

Narnia Elementary school is currently renting the smaller of two school buildings located on the premises of an elementary school campus. Narnia shares its building with a library and music school, both of which are great assets to the students who attend Narnia. However, the number of students has now outgrown the space we are renting and finding room for the incoming first grade class for the 2012-2013 school year has become a great difficulty and challenge.

The elementary school currently housing the main building on the campus grounds has had declining enrollment every year for the last decade. As a result, the city council voted to shut the school down at the end of the 2011-2012 school year; they are now in the process of trying to sell the campus. This is both a positive and negative for Narnia.

The sale gives the school an opportunity to purchase a well-established campus to stabilize the school. It also ensures the room to develop a junior high school. The campus is conveniently located within walking distance of the city center, and is easily accessible by public transportation from anywhere in the city. The campus itself houses the main school building, the smaller building Narnia currently rents, a gymnasium, a multi-purpose sports field and a free-standing cafeteria building as well as a smaller field ideal for playground equipment.

The downside of the sale is that the city council has appraised the value of the property for more than 2 million US dollars, which is a large investment for approximately nineteen thousand yards and buildings dating back to the 1960s that are in need of updated improvements. However, because the campus location and the space are ideal, Narnia’s school board has been in the process of negotiations with both the city council and the congregation of Cirkev Bratska (Evengelical Free Church), whose pastor and his wife founded the school back in 2006, to purchase the property; they have also been actively pursuing resources to help with the purchase of the campus as Cirkev Bratska is unable to pay the entire purchase of sale on its own.

If you would like to help us continue our calling through advice, prayer or financial gifts, please do not hesitate to contact us by way of email (slavo.poloha@narniabb.sk)

Narnia Elementary School follows the recommended curriculum mandated by the Slovak Republic’s Ministry of Education. In addition to the Christian values integrated throughout the educational process, Narnia can be characterized by two unique features: Integrated Thematic Education and our Creative English Project, creating an extensive English language education.

Integrated Thematic Education is a system of instruction wherein a single concept lies inherently in the background of the individual subjects.

The Creative English Project teaches children on three levels: compulsory, voluntary, and  subconscious, creating a complete and immersive English education. Our English teachers work and alternate with our native language lecturers, who work in the Afternoon School Club.

You can find more information here.

Founded in 2006, Narnia Elementary School is located in Banská Bystrica, a city in central Slovakia. Since then the school has opened one first grade class with a capacity of 18 to 22 students each year. In 2014/15 Narnia Elementary will be a complete elementary school with all 9 grades.

There are 125 students enrolled in Narnia Elementary during the 2011/12 school year. There are 16 full time teachers and 9 adjunct teachers that prepare a variety of activities in the Afternoon school club.

The name “Narnia” is taken from The Chronicles of Narnia series written by C. S. Lewis, an Oxford professor, writer, and philosopher. It reflects an advantageous journey children take into adulthood and the adage “The further up and the further in you go, the bigger everything gets. The inside is larger than the outside.“

More information…

Emily and Allison are our resident foreign lecturers. They started working with us in the 2011/2012 school year and have been impacting the school ever since. These two American young ladies found their way to us through a mutual contact in the U.S. and after much prayerful deliberation, they decided came to Narnia Elementary. They love working with the children and enjoy taking part in helping the children’s English communication abilities grow.