Educating in Piety and Letters. Calasanz School. San Juan, Puerto Rico
Fr. Rubén Plata. Principal
The life and mission of Calasanz illuminates the life and mission of the Piarists. I am Fr. Rubén Plata Avalos Sch P. I have been a director at Calasanz College in San Juan, Puerto Rico, since July 17, 2023. It has an immense challenge, not because of the size of the College, but because of the reality in which Puerto Rican society finds itself today. At this moment in my life, the hope of Calasanz marks my work because, just as he struggled, he prayed and sought ways for the work of God to continue, so today, I must pursue the mechanisms for the work of Calasanz in Calasanz College to continue to live and bear much fruit.
THE SCHOOL
Calasanz School was founded in 1968 in San Juan by the Piarist Fathers, who have been running it ever since. It is co-educational and preparatory for the university, in close collaboration with the families. The school follows the educational philosophy of St. Joseph Calasanz based on Piety and Letters.
It is located on Montecarlo Avenue, a conflictive area where gang friction marked the school’s history. Now, the territory is wrapped in symbolic peace as social problems manifest themselves in times and concrete actions. The surrounding population appreciates the school since they grew up there, were educated there, and recognized that it gave them wings to find new paths. However, the current population is ancient. In addition, a good part of the population has left the country.
The school’s students come from nearby, but not adjoining, housing developments. A very broken family reality marks them. This includes those families who seek the school because it provides academic, social, emotional, and family security. Calasanz School is focused on promoting a sense of family. This is what distinguishes us from other schools in the area.
CHALLENGES
The Piarist identity is from which better teachers, students, families, and society are born and transformed; we know that to be Piarists is to change society and be cooperators of the truth.
The Pastoral. We seek a school in the key of pastoral, a place where all those who participate in the educational action, teachers, students, and parents announce the Gospel with their lives everywhere.
Academic quality. We have to set our eyes on the future. We cannot stagnate, for the world is moving fast, and we must form students for the world in which they will live. We cannot educate the same. We must take to heart Calasanz’s dictum: “If the child is diligently imbued with Piety and Letters, a happy course of his whole life may be anticipated.” Now, we have to educate for the future that is not yet here, with the child we have and the world that is constantly changing.
PASTORAL
The Pastoral of Calasanz School is re-emerging. The pandemic put the pastoral actions to sleep, and now they are waking up, not without complications, because we cannot do the same as before the pandemic; now we have to rethink the pastoral, the educational actions, and the world of young people.
My passion: What excites me about the Order of the Pious Schools proposal is the Order’s view of each of the educational actions. It is a moment in which we feel connected with the whole Pious School, which gives hope because we all have difficulties and struggle to provide the best of ourselves to children and young people. I am passionate that they value the vocation of all those who participate in the Piarist mission and that they offer accompaniment, discernment, and places to grow humanly and spiritually.
CALASANZ SCHOOL
- Address: Montecarlo Avenue, Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico.
- Institutional mail: admi@calasanz.cc
- Date founded: Founded in 1968
- Students: 172
- of educators: 17 (all staff)
- Other activities complementary to academics:
- Babysitting: this is a space that teachers provide to students and parents to take care of them while they do homework or play recreational games.
- Tutoring: These are teachers that parents hire to tutor them in particular academic aspects. These teachers are part of the school campus.
- Sports clubs: These spaces are offered to students and young people from outside the school to practice basketball or volleyball.
