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The Colegio Centro América is a private
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
school located in
Managua ) , settlement_type = Capital city , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Nicar ...
,
Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...
. Founded by the
Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...
in the city of Granada in 1916, the school serves as an elementary, middle, and high school. The school quickly became the preferred boarding school for children of elite families. To this day, the school is considered to be the best one in the country. During the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, the school was effective in educating the business elite during a period of rapid agricultural transformation and growth, which made Nicaragua into the breadbasket for Central America. Many of the school's graduates became powerful farmers and ranchers, with heavy political and economic influence.


History


Foundation

This was under the auspices of the Mexican Province of Jesuits. They came to Nicaragua in 1916 during a time of persecution in Mexico and opened the school at Granada, Nicaragua. These Jesuits were originally from Spain, Mexico, and Italy, and from Granada would spread to the rest of Central America. Included among them were the historian Camillo Crivelli. By 1920 it was possible to build a proper school building, with the government and church in support. This early period saw the construction In Granada of a library and laboratories for physics, chemistry, and biology. A zoo and a museum of natural sciences followed, both on the college campus. A stimulus behind the project was Jesuit orthnologist Bernardo Ponzol. The humanistic studies included music, theater, oratory, and declamation.


Change of guard

This period is marked by the contribution of the Jesuits from Castile,
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
, as the Mexican Jesuits were slowly leaving. While the college continued its development in Granada, around 1964 a primary school was opened in Managua on Zacarías Guerra (now Colón street) and the construction of the current building in Managua began. The move to Managua was gradual, first primary then by 1967 the whole college of Granada had moved to Managua.


Modern period

The move increased the number of students. Instead of boarding there were day students. Unlike the more conservative Grenadian society, students were more modern. In 1975 Amando Lopez was head of the college; he would later become one of the Jesuit martyrs of El Salvador. The triumph of the Sandinista Revolution of 1979 also brought a moment of change and crisis for college. Changes included: compulsory military service, during which many students died; student participation in coffee harvesting and in the national literacy crusade; many parents withdrew their children from school because they did not agree with the new policies. Then in 1984 the college opted for co-education, with all the changes this entailed. One new emphasis goes back to Jesuit Father General
Pedro Arrupe Pedro Arrupe Gondra, SJ (14 November 1907 – 5 February 1991) was a Spanish Basque priest who served as the 28th Superior General of the Society of Jesus from 1965 to 1983. He has been called a second founder of the Society, as he led the Jesui ...
's call that Jesuits form men and women for others. Colegio Centro America hosts immersion experiences for students from Jesuit high schools in the United States.


Notable alumni

*
José Coronel Urtecho José Coronel Urtecho (28 February 1906 – 19 March 1994) was a Nicaraguan poet, translator, essayist, critic, narrator, playwright, diplomat and historian. He has been described as "the most influential Nicaraguan thinker of the twentieth centu ...
* Pablo Antonio Cuadra * Joaquín Cuadra * Carlos Pellas Chamorro *
Ernesto Cardenal Ernesto Cardenal Martínez (20 January 1925 – 1 March 2020) was a Nicaraguan Catholic priest, poet, and politician. He was a liberation theologian and the founder of the primitivist art community in the Solentiname Islands, where he lived fo ...
* Joaquín Pasos * Jorge Salazar *
Carlos Fernando Chamorro Barrios Carlos Fernando Chamorro Barrios (born ) is a Nicaraguan independent investigative journalist. He is the founder and editor of Confidencial, a news website and weekly publication combining investigative journalism and analyses of current affair ...
*
Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal (23 September 1924 – 10 January 1978) was a Nicaraguan journalist and publisher. He was the editor of '' La Prensa'', the only significant opposition newspaper to the long rule of the Somoza family. He is a ...
* Salvador Cardenal * José Adán Aguerri Chamorro * Rafael Solís * Edgar Chamorro Coronel *
Enrique Bolaños Enrique José Bolaños Geyer (; 13 May 1928 – 14 June 2021) was a Nicaraguan politician who served as President of Nicaragua from 10 January 2002 to 10 January 2007. From 1997 to 2002, Bolaños served as vice president under Arnoldo Alemán ...


See also

*
Education in Nicaragua Education in Nicaragua is free for all Nicaraguans. Elementary education is free and compulsory although this is not strictly enforced. Many children are not able to attend if their families need to have them work. Communities on the Atlantic Coast ...
*
List of Jesuit educational institutions The Jesuits (Society of Jesus) in the Catholic Church have founded and managed a number of educational institutions, including the notable secondary schools, colleges and universities listed here. Some of these universities are in the United Sta ...
* List of schools in Nicaragua


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colegio Centro America 1916 establishments in Nicaragua Jesuit schools in Nicaragua Granada, Nicaragua Educational institutions established in 1916