A festive academic year has begun at Talentum Református School, which has been offering personalized education and Christian education for 25 years.
Talentum Református Iskola, which is the only private institution in Cluj to offer Hungarian-language education, is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a birthday conference, a meeting of Vendians, a concert and a commemorative book. Vice-principal Harbula Hajnalka told Krónika that, as it was a birthday, at the opening of the school year in September, each class received a cake, they sang the school song and blew out the candles.
The series of festive events will take place on October 18–19. will be continued with a conference entitled Ordinary Pedagogical Practices, which is open to all interested parties. "On Fridays between 8 and 11 in the morning, we offer the opportunity to visit classes at the school, which I think can be important and interesting for both parents and teaching colleagues. After the noon opening, there will be plenary sessions and then workshops. Marietta Lányi and Éva Szabó come from the Children's House in Budapest, who will share their experiences on integrated and special education, and Lídia Berszán will talk about healthy cooperation in school, family, and partnerships," the deputy director detailed the program.
He added that Saturday will focus on Talentum, in the morning the founders of the school and the heads of the institution will look back on the beginnings and the work of the past 25 years, and in the afternoon the former and current teachers will talk about their experiences.
Harbula Hajnalka also talked about the fact that, as a novelty for them, they are planning a meeting of the Vendians in December, as well as a festive concert with the participation of students and parents in May. Also at this time, I would like to present to the general public the volume in which the history of the school is presented.
The institution, which opened in September 2000 under the name Református Montessori School, was created by devout Reformed parents and teachers who believed that their children, born into a changing world, need solid Christian values and a living faith in God, as well as critical, creative and autonomous thinking.
To achieve their goals, they searched for a child-oriented, action-oriented, interest-driven method, and thus came across the pedagogical system developed by Maria Montessori (one of the most influential pedagogues of the 19th and 20th centuries).
When asked whether the pedagogical image of the school has changed in recent years, the head of the institution answered, basically no, they still work in a Christian spirit, applying Montessori principles.
"However, during the accreditation process, we realized that today's Cluj society is not prepared for an institution operating on very traditional Montessori principles. This is how we changed, and we follow the current Romanian curriculum, but we work with Montessori methods for elementary students, and we follow the principles for high school students as well, placing great emphasis on individual work," explained Hajnalka Harbula.
Regarding the milestones, he emphasized that, just like in the life of any institution, the start-up can be considered as such, but here, in addition to the courage of the school founders, the courage of the parents was also needed, who transferred their children from public education to a private education system in the 2000s.
Accreditation was also an important moment, as well as when the school year started with 100 and then 150 children, and in the 2024/2025 school year this number only increased: 158 students started their studies at Talentum Református Iskola. Festive service at the end of the school year.
Harbula Hajnalka also mentioned that a tiered tuition fee grid was developed, the lowest threshold of which is barely 200 lei.
"We match the tuition amount to the income per person in the family. We broke it down like this because, even as a private school, we want to make this type of pedagogical work available to everyone. Therefore, our lowest tuition fee grid is also available for families with very, very low incomes, and every year we try to put together classes that include children from a wide variety of social and social backgrounds," emphasized the Cluj-Napoca teacher.
As he explained, Talentum cannot be considered a private institution in the traditional sense, it does not have a profit orientation, but rather can be characterized as a private educational institution of a social nature.
Cover image: Festive service at the end of the academic year for the students of the Talentum Reformed School
Source: Talentum Reformed School
