Sint-Leocollege was a

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 ...

high 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., ...

and

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. Sint-Leocollege was established in 1890 as a private boys' school. In 1916, it was transformed into a public school and in 1993, girls were first allowed to take classes.

History

In May 1890, the Diocese of Bruges was able to acquire the building of the former English Seminary (located on the site where the Carmelite monastery used to stand) along the Potterierei, with the intention of housing a school there that would become a branch of Sint-Lodewijkscollege, which had already been in existence for over fifty years at that time. While Sint-Lodewijkscollege was an elite school for classical studies including Latin and Greek, Sint-Leocollege was meant to be a 'modern secondary school,' focusing primarily on languages, commerce, and mathematics. Changes in the educational offerings meant that starting from the 1960s, Sint-Leocollege could also provide a broader range of courses, including the classical studies of Latin and Greek. In January 2015, the governing authority decided to merge Sint-Leocollege and Hemelsdaele starting from September 1, 2015, under the name "Sint-Leo Hemelsdaele." The uniform was not introduced. The secondary department fully occupies the premises of Sint-Leocollege, located between Potterierei, Carmersstraat, and Elisabeth Zorghestraat. The buildings of Hemelsdaele, situated between Sint-Jansstraat, Wapenmakersstraat, and Sint-Walburgastraat, house the primary school. The boarding facilities were partially retained. In 2023, the governing authority decided to merge with the school board encompassing, among others, VTI-Brugge.

Notable alumni

Pieter Aspe Pieter Aspe (officially ''Pierre Aspeslag''; 3 April 1953 – 1 May 2021) was a Belgian writer of a series of detective stories starring Inspector Pieter Van In. These were adapted for the long-running TV series (2004–14) starring . He died ...

, writer *

Dirk De fauw A dirk is a long-bladed thrusting dagger.Chisholm, Hugh (ed.); "Dagger", ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 11th ed., Vol. VII, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press (1910), p. 729. Historically, it gained its name from the Highland dirk (Scott ...

, politician * Tuur Dierckx, footballer *

Karel Dobbelaere Karel Dobbelaere (16 September 1933 – 21 October 2024) was a Belgian educator and noted sociologist of religion. Dobbelaere was an Emeritus Professor of both the University of Antwerp and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Louvain) in Belgium. ...

, sociologist of religion *

Nicolas Lombaerts Nicolas Robert Christian Lombaerts (born 20 March 1985) is a Belgian professional football coach and a former centre-back. Career Club Brugge Lombaerts joined Club Brugge at young age where he went through all youth ranks. He claimed various lea ...

, footballer *

Bart Moeyaert Bart Peter Boudewijn Moeyaert (born 9 June 1964) is a Belgian writer. Early life Moeyaert was born in 1964 in Bruges as the youngest of seven brothers. He is named after the character Bartje in the book series by Anne de Vries and after Bau ...

, writer

References

Catholic schools in Belgium Education in Bruges 1890 establishments in Belgium Educational institutions established in 1890 {{Belgium-school-stub