Externado San Jose is a
private
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 ...
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 ...
primary and secondary school located in
San Salvador
San Salvador (; ) is the capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its eponymous department. It is the country's political, cultural, educational and financial center. The Metropolitan Area of San Salvador, which comprises the capital i ...
,
El Salvador
El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...
. The institution began in 1921 as San Jose Seminary to which "outsiders" were later admitted. When the seminarians moved to a new facility the remaining school became an "externado".
The school was founded and is run by the
Society of Jesus
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
.
In 2015 Externado was ranked fourth among 440 schools in El Salvador by the
University of El Salvador
The University of El Salvador or Universidad de El Salvador (UES) is the oldest and the most prominent university institution in El Salvador. It serves as the national university of the country. The main campus, Ciudad Universitaria, is located ...
on the basis of test scores, and had a larger enrollment than the first three schools combined.
Brief history
In 1921 the Jesuits founded San José School seminary school, in the center of San Salvador next to San José Church (later destroyed by fire). Later "outsiders" not contemplating the priesthood were admitted for baccalaureate studies. to the school, which included boarding and day students. Years later the seminarians moved to the new seminary of San José de la Montaña. Those remaining justified the name "externs" or San Jose Externado.
In the 1940s work began on a new school with more adequate facilities on the outskirts of San Salvador, the school's present location. Four Jesuit brothers from the Basque area of Spain did much of the construction at 25 North or "university" Avenue. The primary division moved there in 1954 and the secondary school in 1955. In 1963 the chapel of St. Ignatius of Loyola was built with a capacity for a thousand people. In 1956 the night school, Loyola Academy, was founded to tend to the needs of workers and employees. In 1972 an evening shift was added, to better serve the poor. In 1978, co-education was introduced.
On 10 October 10, 1986, the
San Salvador earthquake critically damaged the three-story building, and it had to be demolished. While new facilities were being constructed the primary school met in the chapel and the Baccalaureate at
Central American University
José Simeón Cañas Central American University ( es, Universidad Centroamericana "José Simeón Cañas"), also known as UCA El Salvador, is a private university with nonprofit purposes in San Salvador, El Salvador, run by the Society of Jesus. ...
(UCA). In 1988 the new and current facilities were opened, with financial help from Jesuits provinces outside El Salvador.
[
]
Mission
San Jose is academically selective; its students have ranked highest in the Learning and Academic Aptitude Test scores (PAES) since its inception in 1997. Externado San José was long considered a school for the elites, but after the Second Vatican Council
The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...
and the Conference of Latin American Bishops
The Second Episcopal Conference of Latin America was a bishops' conference held in 1968 in Medellín, Colombia, as a follow-up to the Second Vatican Council which it adapted in a creative way to the Latin American context. It took as the theme for ...
at Medellin in the 1960s, the Jesuits and staff determined to make education more accessible to the poor. They initiated a sliding scale for tuition, based on family income. No longer seen as elitist, the school nonetheless has maintained high admission and academic performance standards. For secondary students, low grades and/or demerits in personal conduct can lead to expulsion. At the same time, Christian Formation courses took on the goal of forming men and women devoted to serving their society. This included some elements of Liberation Theology
Liberation theology is a Christian theological approach emphasizing the liberation of the oppressed. In certain contexts, it engages socio-economic analyses, with "social concern for the poor and political liberation for oppressed peoples". In ...
which would bridge the deep social divide in El Salvador. At the time, many upscale families withdrew their children from the school, and six Jesuits at their sister school UCA would become martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
s for their open opposition to the elitist government.
Externado San José still operates with this system of differentiated quotas, and remains coeducational
Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...
. Its graduates include many prominent Salvadoreans, among them former presidents Armando Calderón Sol
Armando Calderón Sol (24 June 1949 – 9 October 2017) was President of El Salvador from 1 June 1994, to 1 June 1999, representing the Nationalist Republican Alliance. He was the first president elected in El Salvador after twelve years of ci ...
and Mauricio Funes
Carlos Mauricio Funes Cartagena (born 18 October 1959) is a Salvadoran politician and former journalist who served as President of El Salvador from 2009 to 2014. Funes won the 2009 Salvadoran presidential election, 2009 presidential election as ...
, and the internationally acclaimed poet Roque Dalton
Roque is an American variant of croquet played on a hard, smooth surface. Popular in the first quarter of the 20th century and billed "the Game of the Century" by its enthusiasts, it was an Olympic sport in the 1904 Summer Games, replacing cr ...
.
Academics
The last year of preschool and nine years of primary school meet from 7:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Besides usual subjects children receive classes in Christian formation, sports, music, crafts, English (from second grade), and chess (from third grade). This is followed by two years of Baccalaureate meeting from 7:00 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. From grade seven on, group work and creativity are promoted along with various forms of research, fostering development in the group and emotional maturity. These programs are supplemented by physical education, Christian training, computer skills, and study skills.
The Evening Shift covers grades 4 through 9, with a school day from 1:00 to 6:15 p.m. Many, but not all, students in this shift receive financial assistance according to their family's proven need.
Facilities
The school campus occupies about 19 acres in the middle of San Salvador. It includes six blocks for classrooms plus laboratories for physics, chemistry, and biology, two computer rooms, two projection rooms, and rooms for music, crafts, and chess. The school library contains about 25,000 volumes and includes a separate reading room and group work room. St. Ignatius of Loyola Chapel seats a thousand people and Mary Queen of Peace Chapel holds fifty. There is an auditorium seating seven hundred people and another seating two hundred.
Sports facilities include a 25-meter swimming pool, soccer fields including one regulation and surrounded by a track, three volleyball courts, and three basketball courts.
Symbols
The flowering staff in the upper left symbolizes Saint Joseph
Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers of ...
and several volcanoes in the upper right symbolize Jesuit work in the Central American Province. The lower left has the coat of arms of Ignatius of Loyola
Ignatius of Loyola, Society of Jesus, S.J. (born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; eu, Ignazio Loiolakoa; es, Ignacio de Loyola; la, Ignatius de Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Spain, Spanish Catholic ...
, founder of the Jesuits, and the bottom right has the letters " AMDG" taken from the Latin for the Ignatian motto, "To the greater glory of God." The parrot is the mascot of the school, usually portrayed by a cute rendering of a parakeet, a very common bird in Central America.
Pastoral department
In line with the Jesuit objective of training men and women for others, throughout the year various activities are carried out such as coexistence, retreats, Christian formation classes, and community celebrations (Pentecost
Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles in the Ne ...
, Easter
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
, Confirmation
In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...
s...). To encounter people who live in poverty and are marginalized in the country, regular visits are arranged to institutions for children, for young people, and for the elderly, people who are often at risk, abused, or deprived of their basic needs; this is followed by group reflection. The school is a part of the Ignatians for Haiti drive among Jesuit schools in Latin America.
Culture and communications
The Department of Communications and Cultural Activities (DECOMACCU) offers three programs which run throughout the year. ''Periqueando'' newsletter is produced for elementary (K – 6) and ''Perquiting'' for secondary (7 – 11) students. Student activities of a cultural, athletic, pastoral, or social nature are covered. Festivals and cultural contests discover, promote, and reward the creative and artistic talents of students, through writing (composition, poetry, and narrative), speaking (oratory and declamation), and performing (music, drawing, theater, and dance). Their best literary efforts are published in ''Green Letter Anthology'', which can be viewed online. Occasionally cultural events are staged within the school, featuring prominent artistic groups.
Sports
Students in ninth grade through high school take physical education, which teaches swimming, basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
, volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
, soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
, and fitness. Intramural tournaments are also conducted for students from first grade through high school, in soccer, swimming, volleyball, basketball, kickball
Kickball (also known as soccer baseball in most of Canada and football rounders in the United Kingdom) is a team sport and league game, similar to baseball. As in baseball, one team tries to score by having its players return a ball from home ...
, and track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...
. The more skilled students compete at various levels in interscholastic sports in basketball, as well as in soccer and volleyball which also have national championships.
See also
* Education in El Salvador Education in El Salvador follows a (1 or 2) 9-2-5 educational system, which is regulated by the country's Ministry of Education:
The Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) finds that El Salvador is fulfilling only 64.8% of what it should be ful ...
* List of Jesuit schools
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 university, universities listed here.
Some of these universities are in the ...
Footnotes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Externado San Jose
Jesuit secondary schools in El Salvador
Jesuit primary schools in El Salvador
Schools in San Salvador
Educational institutions established in 1921
1921 establishments in El Salvador