Collège de la Sainte Famille

CSF
Collège de la Sainte Famille
Location
Cairo, Egypt
Information
School type Private
Religious affiliation(s) Christianity/Islam
Founded 1879
Status Open
Age range 5 - 18
Language French/English/Arabic/Spanish
Campus type Urban
School colour(s) Blue/gold         
Website http://www.jesuitescsf.com/

The Collège de la Sainte Famille (English: School of the Holy Family; Arabic: مدرسة العائلة المقدسة‎), often abbreviated as CSF and referred to as Jésuites, is a private Jesuit French school for boys in the Faggala (preparatory and secondary section), Daher (primary section), and Heliopolis (primary section) districts of Cairo, Egypt. It was founded in 1879, after a request by Pope Leo XIII for a seminary to help prepare students to become priests in the Catholic Church.

History

The college began with 16 pupils, in 1879, at the Boghos Palace of Mouski. In 1882 today's college was inaugurated in Faggala. The current Ramses Street was occupied by the Ismailia Canal. The transportation of students was by fiacres. The college had 112 students.

Thereafter was built: the church (1891), the theatre (1892), the current building of Preparatory Cycle (1925), the Primary Cycle in Downtown Cairo (1930), and the Primary Cycle in Heliopolis (1934). In 1930, the college had 600 students from 14 nations: Egypt, France, Lebanon, Syria, Italy, Greece, England, Switzerland, Spain, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Persia.

System

The school offers education for boys (mainly in French) from the upper kindergarten to the senior high school level. There are three campuses: The Petit Collège du Caire (PCC), the Petit Collège d'Heliopolis (PCH), and the Grand Collège, located in Ramsis in Dahir. Students enter the PCC or the PCH at the age of four or five, and after six years of primary school, they go to the Grand Collège. The PCC and the PCH have 400 students each and the Grand Collège has 800 students.

Along with the teaching of the French language, the Arabic language is taught from an early age and then in the primary period of education the English language is introduced. The exams and education are in French even in high school or Thanawiya Amma. All exams are written and prepared in French except for the Arabic language exam, History and Geography which are presented in Arabic.

The school also offers the French curriculum. It is optional and is in a preparatory phase starting from the last year in primary school to the last year in preparatory. Then in the last three years of school it is in its complete form. The student obtains the French diploma "Bac Français".

Notable alumni

External links