The Gimnasio Campestre is an all-male, elite-traditional
Pre-K
Pre-kindergarten (also called Pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool o ...
to
11th grade
Eleventh grade, 11th grade, junior year, or grade 11 (called Year 12 in Wales and England and fifth form in Jamaica) is the eleventh, and for some countries final, grade of secondary schools. Students are typically 16–17 years of age, depending ...
private school
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
It was founded in 1946 by Alfonso Casas Morales, and its educational legacy has prepared several generations of "gimnasianos", as its alumni are known, offering them an education that has stressed the school motto, to "be men of honor". In 1987, after the passing of Mr. Casas, who served also as Principal and Director of the school since its creation, the board of directors chose Mr. Jorge Bernardo Londoño as his successor.
Expansion
Continuing with Mr Casas' legacy, and preparing the school for the 21st century, Mr. Londoño began the modernization of the facilities, building a multi-court/ multi-purpose sports center, which also doubles as a concert hall.
It was during this period that the traditional field trips for
high-school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
seniors were extended to week-long excursions for every class, from 1st to 11th grade, to diverse destinations in Colombia and abroad.
Mr. Londoño was succeeded by Dr. Jaime Bernal, a medical geneticist, who due to his profession and his interest in scientific discovery, re-directed the modernization process to include an observatory (a participant of
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
's Radio Jove Project), and the most modern
Molecular Biology
Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...
Lab of any
secondary education
Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final pha ...
institution in the country.
Students receive half of their classes in English and learn French as a third language. Since 2016, the school is internationally accredited by two highly known accreditation agencies: New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) and Council of International Schools (CIS).
Accomplishments
The Gimnasio Campestre has a long tradition in Bogotá's history, where many graduates have become influential figures both at the local and at the national level. The school recently obtained an international certification by the
Bureau Veritas
Bureau Veritas is a French company specialized in testing, inspection and certification founded in 1828. It operates in a variety of sectors, including building and infrastructure (27% of revenue), agri-food and commodities (23% of revenue), ...
for adhering to international teaching standards.
Among the
extracurricular activities
An extracurricular activity (ECA) or extra academic activity (EAA) or cultural activities is an activity, performed by students, that falls outside the realm of the normal curriculum of school, college or university education. Such activities a ...
promoted by the school are a citywide known
military band
A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the ti ...
radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...
, and a media room broadcasting school events in closed-circuit television, as well as prominent intramural and extramural sports teams.
Two traditional yearly events include the "Copa Tradición" and the "Batuta de Plata", the former a soccer match with the arch-rival team of the Gimnasio Moderno, the latter a marching band competition with prominent local school bands.
The Gimnasio Moderno and the Gimnasio Campestre have enjoyed for decades a healthy competition in sports and other events, and both schools continue to share a tradition of high ethical standards and scholarly comradeship.
After the successful reforms in which Mr. Londoño and Mr. Bernal committed, Juan Antonio Casas Pardo, son of Alfonso Casas, was appointed to continue with the school's legacy.
Students are highly involved with the neighboring communities, and the school recently inaugurated a public library featuring over 3000 titles available to
low-income
Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little
students of public schools. Gimnasianos also volunteer many hours of
community service
Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performe ...
and every Friday donate groceries and non-perishable items to be distributed among low income families of nearby neighborhoods.
Its Alumni Association] has maintained a network of former students that expands over five decades and several generations, providing services such as a job bank and a Bimonthly, bi-monthly newsletter that help reinforce the bonds created by classmates and their families during the thirteen years of shared experiences at the school."Alumni Organization" /ref>
Today, the Gimnasio Campestre's headmaster is the ex-student, Mr. Alejandro Noguera, who assumed his position in 2017, when Dr. Alfonso Casas' son, Juan Antonio left the school.
The school's guiding motto is "Have your country in your heart and the world in your head." The school is a member of Round Square, an international network of schools with a commitment to internationalism and community service.
Military band
In 1954, the founder hired a former army sergeant to take charge of starting the
military band
A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the ti ...
horns Horns or The Horns may refer to:
* Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells
* The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain
* ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...
the rehearsals began. The first members of the band began to educate the ear, to train in the arts of music and war marches, and to begin practicing percussion and winds.
Eduardo Palou de Comasema y Morgadanes was the first band leader, the rest of the group was formed between the ninth, tenth and eleventh grades, from which the 11 remaining volunteers emerged.
The school's
military band
A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the ti ...
participates every year in the "Batuta de Plata" Contest, a trophy it has won three times (2002, 2005 and 2014), obtaining in each of these the highest awards given by the jury; the best band leader (2002 and 2005), and of course the best band.
The merit of the Gimnasio Campestre band is that it is conducted solely and exclusively by its members. Every year, elections are held where the members themselves choose the eight leaders who are to direct the destinies of the band. From the young
cymbals
A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...
to the of eleventh graders, they cast their vote to choose the candidate who best represents the standards of the leading "gimnasiano", distinguishing each year the best of each instrument.
Today the band has seven types of musical instruments: bass drums, cymbals, lyres, grenadiers, snare drums,
timbal
The timbau or Brazilian timbal is a membranophone instrument derived from the caxambu drum, usually played with both hands. Slightly conical and of varying sizes, it is usually light in weight and made of lacquered wood or metal (usually alumin ...
s and
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
s; being these last two instruments for which the band has stood out in the last contests that they have carried out in the city.
leader of the band 2023-2024 is Currently Miguel Maya jaramillo
Minister of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
during
Virgilio Barco
Virgilio Barco Vargas (17 September 1921 – 20 May 1997) was a Colombian politician and civil engineer who served as the 27th President of Colombia serving from 7 August 1986 to 7 August 1990.
Early life
Barco was born in Cúcuta in the Nort ...
's
presidency
A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...
Minister of Finance
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
), the former and recently re-elected
Mayor of Bogotá
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
Enrique Peñalosa
Enrique Peñalosa Londoño (born 30 September 1954) is a Colombian politician. He was mayor of Bogotá from 1998 until 2001 and elected again in 2015 for the 2016–2019 term. He was prominently featured in the Panama Papers for use of off-s ...
, as well as relevant scientists, artists, Senators, and House Representatives, among others.
Courtyard
A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky.
Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary ...
