Our vision is of a learning community where children have access to culturally meaningful learning that provides them with the skills necessary for effective citizenship and the self-confidence they need to be happy and fulfil their true potential, both academic and human.

The Cherry Tree Learning Community (CAC) offers a meaningful education to those who choose happiness as a non-negotiable good and as the primary objective for a child's full development. We understand that feeling happy is a child's natural, innate state and that's why our educational approach encourages freedom and the development of autonomy, while respecting the pace, curiosity and discovery of each new piece of knowledge.
We believe that each child's individual interests, talents, learning styles and goals should influence their education, which is why we offer different teaching approaches. Educators are aware of each child's innate potential, work to understand how they learn and what their skills are, to build activities and a favourable environment that facilitates experiences and scenarios for free development or interaction, accessible to learning.

Cerejeiras is a public school, a community project, recognised by the Portuguese Ministry of Education. Our aim is to offer a progressive form of education, based on democratic values, for foreigners and Portuguese alike.

We are located in a small school building in Rabaçal, a village in Penela, just 20 minutes south of beautiful Coimbra. The Way of St James passes through our little street, which gives our place a magical feel, as many pilgrims pass through all year round, enjoying the many olive trees and vineyards.

With five to six teachers present on average, the maximum of 50 children have plenty of support to ensure that they are guided on their learning journey every day. This is necessary because we firmly believe in educating children based on their needs, not their age. This means that sometimes we work with age groups, but often we work with teams based on interest and proficiency. We also encourage the children to work together: the younger children learning from the older ones and the older ones learning to help the others.

It's an intense process to plan each week, month and term in this way, but the rewards are always there.