The management, staff, parents and pupils of Elian’s British School in La Nucia had cause to celebrate on Saturday with the official inauguration of the school.  ‘We are only having the ceremony now, eighteen months after opening our doors’ said Don Alejandro Monzonis, the school Director ‘because our priority was to put our energy into getting everything right for our students. Now that we have established our standards, we feel justified in having a celebration’.

Certainly Elian’s knows how to celebrate in style. In a specially-erected marquee, the three hundred guests were treated to an event presided over by Santiago Grisolía, winner of the Principe de Asturias prize for his work in genetics. Other invited guests included Don Juan Luis de la Rúa, President of the National High Court, Don Juan Espinar, Regional Director of Education for Alicante and Don Bernabé Cano, Mayor of La Nucia and a parent of one of the students.
The students who addressed the audience, were the first to speak because as Carolina Gimeno, the Spanish Head teacher, said ‘Our students are the most important people in our school. It is fitting that they should be the first voices you hear today’. Olivia Dicker and Jorge Mayor delivered their speeches with the confidence and aplomb of experienced representatives and thanked the parents and teachers for the chance to broaden their life opportunities by giving them ‘the gift of an Elian’s education’.
Alejandro Monzonís thanked the parents for entrusting their children to Elian’s and mentioned the vital contribution made by staff. Maire Hickey, British Head teacher, said it was ‘very special to be involved in the educational formation of children’.
It was notable that all the speakers came to the podium first and foremost as parents and their words were those of advice, formed, in part by their respective professional roles.  Don Juan Luis de la Rúa, for example, spoke of the need for parents to know their children’s friends, to be aware of potential influences on their children and to spend time with their children.
Gratitude was expressed by the Mayor of La Nucia towards the Monzonís family for their contribution to education within the local community and as Santiago Grisolía pointed out, they have more than thirty years of experience in this field. Other schools have been established by Don Ignacio Monzonís, Doña Marisa Monzonís Marín and their son Alejandro in Valencia, Ireland, and Boston (USA). Doña Marisa started the first school in  the 60’s and the business grew from there. In his speech, Don Ignacio alluded to the company’s intention to open another school in the Valencian community but did not reveal the exact location.
Santiago Grisolía acknowledged the excellent standards already obvious in Elian’s and said that ‘the way to achieve perfection was to take things slowly and do them well’.
All of the speakers praised the standard of the facilities in Elian’s which are among the best on the Costa Blanca. The guests were invited to the raising of flags in the entrance driveway to the school. This was carried out to the accompaniment of the European, British and Spanish national anthems. A plaque was then unveiled with the names of all the students who were registered in the first academic year.
Visitors were offered a tour of the magnificent building, which has been purpose built, in perfectly landscaped grounds with panoramic views of the mountains and the sea. It is evident from the classroom displays and from talking to the parents at the lavish reception afterwards, that much hard work goes into the education of Elian’s students.