St Augustine College () is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

secondary school, located in

Cochabamba Cochabamba (; ) is a city and municipality in central Bolivia in a valley in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital (political), capital of the Cochabamba Department and the list of cities in Bolivia, fourth largest city in Bolivia, with ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

Overview

Augustinians Augustinians are members of several religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written about 400 A.D. by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...

settled in Cochabamba in the 1950s to contribute to the education in Bolivia. They founded the high school in 1954 and it started its activities in 1955. Since its inception, St Augustine College has focused on providing a strong technical background to its students. Most of them have obtained a degree in

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

sciences Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

, as

critical thinking Critical thinking is the process of analyzing available facts, evidence, observations, and arguments to make sound conclusions or informed choices. It involves recognizing underlying assumptions, providing justifications for ideas and actions, ...

has been mainly promoted among its students. There have been students who obtained higher education and professional recognition in the social sciences as well. This high school is regarded as Bolivia's 1st ranked high school due to the performance of its students in science contests as well as the performance shown by its graduates in both the public and the private sectors within Bolivia and abroad. 2005 marked the school's 50th anniversary. On that occasion, it was awarded the

Order of the Condor of the Andes The Order of the Condor of the Andes () is a state decoration of the Plurinational State of Bolivia instituted on 12 April 1925. The Order is awarded for exceptional merit, either civil or military, shown by Bolivians or foreign nationals. The ...

, which is the Bolivian government's highest distinction, and also it was the first women promotion. In 2016, the school began the first Bolivian technologic school project. It included a project to obtain the

ISO 9001 The ISO 9000 family is a set of international standards for quality management systems. It was developed in March 1987 by International Organization for Standardization. The goal of these standards is to help organizations ensure that they meet ...

academic quality management system for education and will last until 2020. This College has been managed by the San Agustin Educational Foundation (''Fundación Educacional San Agustín (FESA)'') since 28 August 1992. Previously, it was managed by the Augustinians in the name of the same school. Nicolas Beumer, the last Augustinian who participated in this educational endeavour, died in 2015.

History

The

Order of Saint Augustine The Order of Saint Augustine (), abbreviated OSA, is a mendicant order, mendicant catholic religious order, religious order of the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1244 by bringing together several eremitical groups in the Tuscany region who ...

was founded in 1244. The first

arrived in Bolivia in the 16th century. In December 1949, the

was established in Cochabamba by the Augustinians from

The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. On 25 July 1951, they received a permit, given by the local ecclesiastical authorities, to found an Industrial School, a

Convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

, and a church. In the same year, they acquire about 4 hectares of land to build their projects. The College is still in the original location: Tupuraya, which was at that time on the outskirts of the city of

. In 1949, the provincial chapter in Holland sent Frs. Marcos Meyer (Meijer) and Andres Van Meegeren to Cochabamba to prepare the foundation of the school, whereas three young fathers were sent to

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

to obtain engineering degrees (amongst them William Saelman who spent 4 years in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

before moving to Cochabamba), later on some more young priests were sent to

for the same purpose. Four Augustinians arrived in

on the 27 of February 1952: Enrique Ebbing, Jaime Van Maanen, Nicolás Beumer and Germán de Beer, who were accompanied by a priest, Juan Teuben, who was in charge of the convent of augustinians in

La Paz, Bolivia La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz ( Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the third-most populous city in Bolivia. Its metropolitan area ...

. They have set the foundational aspects of the College. On 21 October 1954, a

decree A decree is a law, legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, monarch, royal figure, or other relevant Authority, authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislativ ...

(number 64314) was issued authorising the College operations. The first student was enrolled on the 22 of December 1954 for the first level of

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

. In 1955, the first academic year started under the supervision of Mr. Teuben (principal until December 1958). 25 students and their families gathered on Friday 4 February 1955 in a mass in the convent's chapel. On Monday 7 February, the Bolivian teacher Guillermo Rodrigo Mercado inaugurated the academic activities with the first class about 'Bolivian Geography'. Most of the first teachers were Dutch although were there were Bolivians too: * Raimundo Grigoriú (Bolivian),

Civics In the field of political science, civics is the study of the civil and political rights and obligations of citizens in a society. The term ''civics'' derives from the Latin word ''civicus'', meaning "relating to a citizen". In U.S. politics ...

* Antonio Cabrerizo (Bolivian),

Literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

* Julio Foronda (Bolivian),

Gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

* Pedro Diepstraten (Priest, Dutch) * Edmundo (Gerrit) Hamerlinck (Priest, Dutch) - died in

La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...

in 1979 (56 years old) * Liborio Groen (Priest, Dutch) * Andrés van Meegeren (Priest, Dutch) * Juan Pedro Smeters (Priest, Dutch) * Jaime (Joannes Jacobus) Van Maanen (Priest, Dutch) - born in

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

(7 Feb 1926) * Nicolás Beumer (Priest, Dutch) - religion teacher * Juan Swinkels (Brother, Dutch) * Armando Thyssen (Brother, Dutch) * Emmy Amesz-Holstege (Brother, Dutch)

Chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

The first physics and chemistry labs started in 1957. At that time, the college had 145 registered students (divided in 5 groups), 6 Augustinian priests, a bolivian full-time teacher as well as other 5 bolivian teachers working part-time. The schedule ran from 8 A.M. until 3 P.M. The priest Guillermo Saelman was the college's principal from 1957 until 1962. On 26 November 1960, 14 students completed their 6-year secondary education in the college—there were 221 students registered in the college on that year who were in 9 different groups/classes. On 29 August 1961, the first issue of “La Kantuta”, a college newspaper completely edited by the students, was published (The Kantuta, a.k.a. qantuta, is one of Bolivia's national flowers). Later on, a debate club (“Casiciaco” ) is started in remembrance to the

finca ''Finca'' () is a Spanish term for estate. In English usage, it refers to a piece of rural or agricultural land, typically with a cottage, farmhouse or estate building present, and often adjacent to a woodland or plantation. Overview Especial ...

, located in the north of Italy, where between 386 and 387 A.D., Saint Augustine — the founder of the order — used to study and reflect. In 1963, the priest Lucas Hoogveld became principal. In 1991, the college starts an important transition of its administration towards the a newly created foundation ("Fundación Educacional San Agustin"
FESA
. FESA assumes the management of the college on the 28 of August 1992. In 1998, 206 new potential students applied for becoming students in the college—50 women thereof. Out of all the applicants, 60 male students and 30 females students were admitted, these girls were the first ones in the history of the college. In 2004, the first 13 female students accomplished their secondary studies (along with 35 male students). In 2005, the college celebrated 50 years of successful educational activities. Up to that year, 1620 students completed their secondary education, 95% of them pursued higher education studies. On the same year, the college was awarded with the

—a few days after the condecoration, Jaime Van Maanem, who was present in the award ceremony, passed away.

Principals

* Juan Teuben: Feb 1955 - Dec 1958 * J. Guillermo (William) Saelman: Feb 1959 - Dec 1964 * Lucas Hoogveld: Feb 1965 - Dec 1971 * Antonio Cabrerizo: Feb 1972 - Dec 1987 * Beatriz Escalera Vásquez: Feb 1988 - Dec 1998 * Jorge Escalera Vásquez: 1999 - 2004 * Gustavo Deheza Ugarte: 2004 - 2008 * Jorge Escalera Vásquez: 2009 - 2012 * Juan Carlos Rodriguez: 2013 - 2014 * Rene Cardozo: Feb 2015 - today

Notable alumni

Álvaro García Linera Álvaro Marcelo García Linera (; born 19 October 1962) is a Bolivian politician, sociologist, Marxist theoretician, and former guerrilla who served as the 38th vice president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019. A member of the Movement for Soc ...

: Vice President of Bolivia (2006–2019) *

Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé (born 2 March 1956) is a Bolivian judge who briefly served as the 64th president of Bolivia from 2005 to 2006 on an interim basis following the resignation of President Carlos Mesa during the 2005 political crisis. Pr ...

: lawyer and former president of Bolivia (2005) * Roberto Laserna: economist * Sergio Óliver Rodríguez Mercado (known as "Vikingo"): politician *

Marco Sandy Marco Antonio Sandy Sansusty (born 29 August 1971) is a Bolivian football manager and former player who played as a defender. He is the current assistant manager of Jorge Wilstermann. Playing career Club On club level he spent the majority o ...

: football manager, former professional football player

References

External links

Fundación Educacional San Agustín (FESA)Colegio San Agustín
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colegio San Agustin Catholic secondary schools in Bolivia Augustinian schools Schools in Cochabamba 1954 establishments in Bolivia Educational institutions established in 1954