Colegio San José
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The Colegio San José' is a preparatory catholic school for boys in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico.
The school was founded by the Society of Mary (Marianists) in 1938. The school has received numerous education awards, including the Blue Ribbon School of Excellence Award. It pursues academic excellence within a framework that will help its students develop all of their talents: social, moral, emotional, religious, physical and intellectual. Colegio San José has a distinguished record for its prominent alumni, such as the current governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Anibal Acevedo Vilá.
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[edit] Mission (In Spanish)
El Colegio San José es un Colegio Católico Marianista de excelencia académica para varones, preparatorio para universidad, que desarrolla líderes cristianos capacitados, responsables y sensibles, comprometidos al servicio de Dios y el prójimo.
[edit] Mission (Translated to English)
San José Preparatory School is a Marianist Catholic College of academic excellence for young men [grades 7 to 12], preparatory for the university, that develops capable, responsible, and sensitive Christian leaders, duty-bound to the service of God and fellow man.
[edit] History
Colegio San José is situated on a hill overlooking metropolitan Río Piedras and San Juan. It stands on the site of an academy founded in l920 by Bishop William Jones. The purpose of that school was to provide for the poor children of the area with the aim of fostering priestly and religious vocations. The bishop died without seeing his dream become a reality (it turned out to be one of the most expensive schools in Puerto Rico).
Under the direction of a Capuchin priest, Padre Antonio del Castillo, and the principalship of Mr. George Keelan, the school officially opened on September 6, 1920, as Academia San Agustín (SAMA). The ensuing years were such troubled ones that Bishop Jorge Caruana contemplated selling the property to an American corporation to build a hotel on the site. However, the Bishop decided to give it one more try and in 1924 he invited the Trinitarians with Father Thomas Judge, S.T. to take over the administration of San Agustín. The school became a center of higher education. Because of a disastrous hurricane (San Ciprián, 1932) followed by years of financial reverses, the Trinitarians were forced to withdraw in 1938. Bishop Edwin Byrne invited the Marianists, under the leadership of Father Joseph Tetzlaff, S.M. and Brother Adolf Eiben, S.M., to assume responsibility for the school. The Diocese of San Juan absorbed the debt of the defunct academy and the name was changed to Colegio San José. The Society of Mary (Marianists) sent eight religious to join the lay staff of the Colegio which at that time had an enrollment of 140 students, thirty of them boarders.
The early years of Marianist administration proved to be very difficult, due to frequent changes in directors as well as the realities of World War II. The stabilizing influence came in the appointment of Brother Joseph Buettner, S.M. as Principal of the Colegio (1948-1960). Under his direction San José grew and prospered. The original wooden structure was replaced by a modern concrete building in 1952 and the facilities were further expanded through the construction of Chaminade Hall (East Wing) in 1959-60.
In 1957, Colegio San José became the first school in Puerto Rico to be accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. In addition, Colegio San José is also accredited and licensed by the Department of Education of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and was recognized in 1994-96 as a School of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Education.
Today Colegio San José has an enrollment of about 505 students and a committed faculty of over forty teachers, including Marianist brothers. On the same centrally located campus of six and one-half acres, facilities have been updated to include three computer rooms, a computerized library with Internet access, three science laboratories, an art center and a music room, an Olympic-sized swimming pool and an air conditioned "state of the art" auditorium - gymnasium, an audiovisual center and soundproof, air-conditioned classrooms with closed-circuit TV.
[edit] Notable Alumni
- Anibal Acevedo Vila, Governor of Puerto Rico, Ex Resident Commissioner, Ex Representative
- Baltasar Corrada del Rio, Ex Associate Judge of the PR Supreme Court, Ex Mayor of San Juan, Ex Secretary of State, Ex President of the PR Civil Rights Commission, Ex Resident Commissioner
- Eduardo Bhatia, Ex Senator, Director of the PR office in Washington, Representative of the Governor in Washington
- Federicö "Fico" Lopez, Basketball player, Superior Basketball League of Puerto Rico
- Reynold Alexander, Illusionist
- Danny Fornaris, Producer for reggaeton-duo Calle 13, and rapper Wiso G, among others
- Several members of Puerto Rican rock band, Black Guayaba
[edit] School Anthem
Letra (Lyrics by) -- Arturo Lerga; Música -- Charlesp Fletcher '40
Juventud que al brillar,
de tu vida el rosicler
te dispones a ondear
la bandera del saber
Pon tu honor en ser fiel
a lo que espera de ti
tu bandera coronada
con resplandores de fe.
A la luz de su noble ideal
ábrase la flor de tu ilusión;
que es poner la meta de tu afán
en servir a tu patria y tu Dios.
A la luz de su noble ideal
ábrase la flor de tu ilusión
que es tener por faro de tu fe:
¡AL COLEGIO SAN JOSE!
