Rahul Sharma (Editor)

Berchmans College, Cali

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Type
  
Jesuit, Catholic

Grades
  
K – 12

Staff
  
156

Established
  
1933; 84 years ago (1933)

Rector
  
Joaquin Emilio Sanchez Garcia, SJ

Director
  
Ruth Elvira Buenaventura

Berchmans College, Cali, Colombia, is a coeducational, K through 12 school founded by the Society of Jesus in 1933.

Contents

Exchange programs

Three exchange programs are maintained to facilitate the learning of English. These are for 5th grade students to Nova Scotia, Canada; for 6th and 7th grade students to Dublin, Ireland; and for 8th and 9th grade students to Bournemouth, England. Students live with local families and attend the public schools.

Facilities

Academic facilities include technology and science laboratories, a fitness center, and swimming pool. Sports include football, rama sports football, basketball, table tennis, volleyball, swimming, and water polo.

Social outreach

The chief social works in which Berchmans students were involved include helping build schools in the Island neighborhood and in the Parish of San Ignacio de Loyola, Terron Colorado, around 1960. About 60 students also worked in these areas catechizing and helping build homes. In the '80s, social work was oriented toward the neighborhoods El Vergel, El Retiro, Communards, and the village of Naples, where a new Fe y Alegría center was created.Experiences begin early, as in Barrio San Antonio for the first graders.

The alumni help with Family Compensation Fund Cali, assisting with dental services, pharmacy, groceries, and education for workers' families, and also do fundraising for the Caleña community.

Programs and projects

  • Virtual classroom is offered online from grades one through twelve, for distance learning and according to one's own availability.
  • Education project for peace fosters respect for different cultures.
  • Meet with Christ gives students K through 11 an age-appropriate introduction to Ignatian spirituality and outreach.
  • Training and social action offers experiences that include insight and analysis of the social reality to elicit commitment to build a more just and caring society.
  • Ignatian leadership courses Workshop I and II train young people to become leaders in the area of social transformation, especially for the benefit of the less fortunate.
  • School Advisory Service employs psychologists to assist students, families, teachers, and administrators in realizing the contributions of Cognitive Psychology – the cultural contributions of psychoanalysis. This program involves six psychologists, one in preschool, two in primary, and three in high school.
  • Model UN is among the extracurricular activities in which the students participate.

    • Apostolic groups

  • Christian Life Community is the successor to the Jesuit sodality movement and uses small group cells to foster mature faith and action along the lines of Ignatian spirituality. Similar groups beginning from the early years include Children, Christian Life Youth, Leaders Building Leaders, and Course workshop.
  • Red Cross trains student brigade members in the structure, dynamics, protocols, and standards of the Colombian Red Cross and the International Red Cross. It fosters self-care and offers opportunities to assist others in their need.
  • Scouts: Berchmans Scout group No. 1 has a long-standing tradition that includes service to others.

    • References

    Berchmans College, Cali Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA