About us
Academia Montemar is a bilingual, international school rooted in the reefs and rolling hills of western Puerto Rico. We treat children as capable of hard things, and we teach them to think independently, to build, and to lead with purpose.
Through inquiry-driven curriculum, real-world projects, and an island that is itself our classroom, we cultivate open minds, strong character, and a deep sense of place. Every child leaves us both able to stand on their own and knowing they belong to something larger. We prepare students to thrive in college, or to rigorously pursue any path they choose.
Read our six convictionsAcademia Montemar is operated by Fundación Montemar, a nonprofit organization registered in Puerto Rico and created by local community members and parents.
Our school will reflect the Rincón community. Academia Montemar is committed to welcoming children from a range of backgrounds, and to making our school accessible to families across our community.
To develop and operate innovative, bilingual, youth-centered learning programs on the west coast of Puerto Rico, cultivating open minds, strong character, and a deep sense of place. We prepare the next generation to think critically, build solutions, and lead with purpose in a rapidly changing world.
Dr. Gabriel Maldonado has spent forty years in education and has founded or led internationally recognized schools across six countries. Academia Montemar is his fifth school startup.
His most recent roles were Head of School at Futuro Verde in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica, and Head of School at Del Mar Academy in Nosara, Costa Rica — both PK–12 IB international schools. Earlier, he played a founding role at several internationally recognized programs: Columbia Secondary School in New York, Liceo Científico in the Dominican Republic, and TASIS Dorado in Puerto Rico. He also chaired the Department of Education at Hartwick College in New York.
He began as a marine ecologist and a university professor of science education, and has taught at every level from kindergarten through graduate school. His subjects have ranged across environmental education, marine biology, ecology, evolution, teaching methods, philosophy of education, and theory of knowledge. His research spans the teaching and learning of evolution through conceptual change models, parrotfish community ecology and behavior, STEM teacher preparation, and how children lose their connection to the natural world.
His work has been recognized with the 2017 award for Most Innovative School Project in Latin America, the 2009 NYC Blackboard Award for Outstanding Public School Principal, four Blackboard Awards for Best Public School Teachers, and recognition as an Outstanding School Innovator by EDUCA in the Dominican Republic.
“I love hiking, kayaking, mountain biking, snorkeling and SCUBA diving, birding and gardening — I am a proud nature nerd. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, my home and refuge is my farm in Vega Alta.”
Katie Montgomery is a mother, business owner, and executive with nearly twenty years of experience in the biotechnology industry. Most recently she was VP of Marketing at Schrödinger, a company building industry-leading software for computational drug discovery and materials science. Before that she held roles at several computational genomics and next-generation sequencing companies, including Roche Diagnostics. She has always been passionate about the intersection of science, technology, and business.
Her interest in Latin American culture and the Spanish language started in secondary school and expanded during her university years through extensive study abroad programs in Chile, Mexico, and Spain.
Megan Williams-Dunnill is a mother, educator, parent coach, and business owner with twenty years of experience studying human behavior and child development. She has lived and worked in a wide variety of settings as an anthropologist and bilingual teacher. She has taught college Spanish, Spanish immersion first grade, and everything in between. After completing training with Teach for America she became the Instructional Reform Facilitator for a K–8 bilingual school in San Francisco. Upon moving to Puerto Rico in 2014, she decided to take a break from academics to connect with the community in other ways, and started Karibe Kombucha out of her home.
Her current passion lies in finding ways to help parents bridge the gap between our children's human needs and the ever-increasing changes of the modern world.
Miguel Canals is a father, educator, oceanographer, and business owner with more than twenty years of experience in teaching, research, and public service. He is a professor of physical oceanography and ocean and coastal engineering at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, where he founded and directs the Center for Applied Ocean Science and Engineering. His work focuses on coastal resilience, ocean observing and forecasting, coral reef restoration, and marine renewable energy throughout Puerto Rico and the wider Caribbean. He is also the founder and CEO of Wavemaps Ocean Intelligence, an AI-native company focused on accelerating physics-based models and digital twins of the ocean using AI.
Miguel has devoted much of his career to applying science in service of local communities and mentoring the next generation of scientists and engineers. A longtime surfer and waterman, he brings to the board a deep connection to Rincón, a lifelong commitment to education, and a strong interest in helping young people understand and care for the natural world around them.
Academia Montemar opens in Fall 2027 for grades K–5. These are the people who will set what this school becomes.
A university degree and a few years of teaching are the starting point. Outstanding recent graduates are welcome to write.
If that sounds like you, reach out to director@academiamontemar.org.
Academia Montemar plans to pursue authorization as an IB World School and to become a candidate school for the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP). For further information about the IB and its programmes, visit www.ibo.org.
Rincón is not a backdrop for this school. It is the curriculum. Reef, river, forest, and farm sit within a short drive, and the coast gives us a living laboratory that most schools have to simulate.
Campus details to come.
