St. Louis College, Sao Paulo

Updated on Jan 10, 2024

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Type Jesuit, Catholic Enrollment 2,500		Gender Coeducational Phone +55 11 3138-9600
Established 1867 (150 years ago) (1867) in Itu, São Paulo state Grades Kindergarten through secondary Website saoluis.org (in Portuguese) Address Rua Haddock Lobo, 400 - Cerqueira César, São Paulo - SP, 01414-902, Brazil Similar Colégio Dante Alighieri, Colégio Rio Branco, Colégio Bandeira, Colégio Palmares, Colégio São Domingos

St. Louis College (Portuguese: Colégio São Luís), is a Brazilian Catholic school located in the city of São Paulo. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1867. The school has classes from kindergarten through high school.

History

St. Louis College was the second college founded in Brazil by the Society of Jesus after the society's suppression. Jesuit priests founded the school in Itu, São Paulo state, in 1867. In 1917, it was moved to the city of São Paulo.

In 1943, the school opened a night school at the secondary level, accommodating 500 students from public schools, many of whom required financial aid. In 1948, one of the first economics schools in the city was opened, then moved to the Jesuit Centro Universitário da FEI.

In 1963, the Jesuits opened the St. Louis Church of Gonzaga, at the corner of Bela Cintra Avenue. Between the 1960s and 1970s, industrialization accelerated and homes were replaced by office buildings. The old school building was replaced by a high-rise building, which made room for a swimming pool, indoor gym, courts, laboratories, and a circle drive.

In 1972, the school began receiving girls, a novelty among São Paulo schools at the time.

The late 1990s saw the construction of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga Church next to the school, along with more classrooms and the extension of classes to kindergarten.

More recently the school has followed the lead of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities and implemented the Ignatian pedagogical paradigm. The school's enrollment has risen to over 2,500 students.

Parent-Teacher Association brings both parents and students together to participate in a Saturday breakfast and lecture series on topics relevant to family and school life.

Family School finds parents of infants and primary 1 meeting on Saturdays for play and fun with children, joined by an expert storyteller.

Academics

Science Olympiad, geared to students in sixth through ninth grades, addresses issues related to the environment, health, and technology. Projects can be developed during class time and medals are awarded.

Mathematics Olympiad rewards the ability to use creativity in solving problems. It has a sixth- and seventh-grade contest and another for eight and ninth grades.

Criminology: simulation of a crime scene allows students to act as experts, defense lawyers, and public prosecutors. Biochemical knowledge, mathematics, and sociology are employed as science complements the search for justice in the investigation of crimes.

Knowledge Olympiad within the school allows students to showcase their learning through panels and workshops, demonstrations, and works of art and dance. Medals are awarded for the best displays.

Model UN is held in conjunction with St. Francis Xavier College (also located in São Paulo), and organized by the students themselves.

Young Scientists involves first- and second-year high school students in weekly workshops in the laboratory involving electricity, hydraulics, carpentry, welding, and industrial processes. The group also visits museums and other places to observe technology in practice.

Feminist Group meets weekly to discuss issues relevant to women, and another group organizes forums and debates on issues of public interest.

Field trips, as to the national legislature in Brasilia, are also scheduled.

Jobs Forum is a three-day event in conjunction with St. Francis Xavier College, with more than 100 business professionals available to answer questions and explain the routine, difficulties, trends, and rewards of each career.

Arts

Youth Theatre Connections brings together around 500 students each year, from public and private high schools in the greater São Paulo area, and promotes young people's theatre. It is sponsored by Cultura Inglesa, the Brazilian British Council, the Royal National Theatre, and Célia Helena School of Arts, in seven countries around the world (Brazil, England, Italy, Portugal, Sweden, Georgia, and Norway).

Wanderings Festival features performances by students from the various curricular and extra-curricular dance classes, open to parents and guests.

A weekly film viewing is open to all, followed by a debate on the subject of the film and on the filming techniques used. In a contest on the topic of what kind of world we want to leave our children, those in seventh grade produce works of art to illustrate their hopes and those in eighth grade write a paper that can be argumentative or poetic. There are also regular student-organized events like musical jam sessions in schoolyards.

Pastoral office

Ignatian Week celebrates St. Ignatius of Loyola's legacy to the school with theatre, an art exhibition, a lyric concert, spiritual exercises, and other activities.

Urban Mission project finds the high school students volunteering during their July holidays, often at schools, pre-school centers, or homeless shelters. These students overnight at Vila Gonzaga, a farm maintained by the school near the Anchieta Highway; they receive guidance and monitoring from adults.

Sports

For nearly three decades, Sports Festival has brought together more than thirty schools at Saint Louis College for futsal, football, basketball, volleyball, swimming, and handball, with teams from sixth grade to third-year high school.

The architectural achievement of the school's sports facilities is showcased by its creators.

References

St. Louis College, Sao Paulo Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

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