Type Jesuit, Catholic Rector Ramón Alaix, SJ Phone +591 2 2751720 Teaching staff 75 | Denomination All faiths Gender Coeducational Founded 1963 | |
Established 1963; 54 years ago (1963) Director Pastorals, Alejandro M. Ortiz Address Av. Hugo Ernst Rivera, La Paz, Bolivia Profiles | ||
Colegio San Ignacio, La Paz, was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1963. It is coeducational, and offers six years of primary and six years of secondary education.
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History
"San Ignacio" started its educational activities in 1963 as a primary school under the name "San Calixto Següencoma" with 235 students, many of them from San Calixto College. In 1970 an evening class named "Loyola" was implemented. In 1980 the school first admitted girls. In 1981 the schools "San Calixto Següencoma" and "Loyola" were merged into a single "Colegio San Ignacio".
To better coordinate the Bolivian Jesuits' educational efforts, in 2002 the Society of Jesus created the Educational Foundation Father Pedro Arrupe (FEPPA) and this acronym has been added to the College name. In 2013 a square in La Paz was dedicated with a statue of San Ignacio de Loyola, in recognition of San Ignacio College and the many other works of the Jesuits in Bolivia. Also in 2013 a Bolivian postage stamp celebrated the 50th anniversary of the school.
Activities
Since 1969 the students in their final year have reached out to rural communities for three weeks of social service, working in the fields, as well as tending to sewage and the drinking water supply, in pursuit of the vision of becoming men and women for others. In his visit to Latin America in 2016, Pope Francis included a visit to San Ignacio College on his itinerary.
Activities offered include theater, music, dance, singing, and sports (football, futsal, basketball, volleyball, and swimming), including an indoor pool. San Ignacio has done well in competition for the Nissan Intercollegiate Cup, as in 2010 when it won at the 11-year-old level and came in second at the 17 and 18-year-old levels.