Xavier Lyceum, Guatemala

Xavier Lyceum, Guatemala
Lyceo Javier
Location
Villa Nueva, Guatemala
Information
Type Jesuit, Catholic
Established 1952 (1952)
Director Claudio Solis
Gender Coeducational since 2000
Enrollment 2,000
Color(s) White and red
Mascot Cardinal
Founder Jorge Toruño Lizarralde, SJ
Sister school San Ignacio Institute
Website JavierGuatemala

Xavier Lyceum (Liceo Javier) is a Catholic private school, located in the City of Guatemala and founded in 1952 by the religious order of the Society of Jesus. It includes preschool through baccalaureate in science and in literature.[1]

History

Early years

Xavier Lyceum in Guatemala opened in 1952 with students from kindergarten to third grade, in two small classrooms loaned by the Peyré family to supplement the prestigious private "French school" for young ladies with a school for boys.[2] The founder, Jorge Toruno Lizarralde, S.J., entered Guatemala surreptitiously,[1] since under the liberal governments of Justo Rufino Barrios and José María Reina Barrios the Jesuits had been expelled from the country.[note 1][3] The revolutionary governments of Juan José Arévalo and Jacobo Arbenz continued this liberal policy regarding the church and the Jesuits,[4] so Fr. Toruno initially opened a male section for the French Lyceum.[2]

After the overthrow of Colonel Jacobo Arbenz Guzman in 1954 by the National Liberation Movement,[note 2] the Catholic Church regained some of the power it had during the Conservative government of Rafael Carrera in the nineteenth century.[4] Thus, private religious education boomed after 1955, with the founding of several elite schools for boys[note 3] that gained the elite students who had previously attended the Central National Institute for men or Normal School for boys. Toruño used the fourth centenary of the death of St. Francis Xavier in 1552 to rename the school "Xavier Lyceum," and Xavier became the patron of the school.[2][1]

Shortly after 1952, the school moved from 4th Avenue Zone 1 of Guatemala City, "Simeon Canas" Avenue near the North Race Track, and with the help of grants and loans Toruño bought 17 blocks on the edge of the Calzada Aguilar Bátres, the location of the school since 1957. In 1956 construction began on the primary building, which was ready in 1957. That same year the college moved permanently to new premises.[note 4][2] The distance problem became apparent: in those years Guatemala City was small and the school was at 8.5 kilometers on the road to Amatitlan, which was one lane per side and not asphalted. To cope with this situation the Cofiño family donated a bus to the school.[2] In 1956 the basketball gym "Kostka Hall" was built.

When Orlando Sacasa, S.J., was rector, a granddaughter of General Justo Rufino Barrios donated $350,000 for the 3-storey secondary building. She made this donation to compensate for expropriations made during the government of Barrios (1873-1885)[2] – although the Jesuit properties were expropriated when they were expelled from Guatemala in 1765, while it was still a Spanish colony.

Social service

In the '70s and early '80s, Xavier Lyceum helped many children of limited resources, in conjunction with the Salesian Don Bosco and Guatemala Lyceum schools. The students of the schools went to the regions affected by the Guatemalan Civil War to provide this help. Following this, these three schools faced problems with the governments of General Carlos Arana Osorio, Kjell Eugenio Laugerud García, and Fernando Romeo Lucas Garcia, since as Catholic institutions they were accused of teaching Marxism in their classrooms.[1][note 5] The fact that many Xavier students went on to the University of San Carlos in Guatemala compounded the problem because many of them became left-wing activists. After 1989 with the changes in Russia, the school was no longer under a shadow and received more recognition in Guatemalan society.[1] The school also began giving more emphasis to social service, to art, and to sports.[5]

New century

Xavier Lyceum became coeducational in the year 2000.[1] In 2015 it ranked eleventh among 1,592 secondary schools in Guatemala, and second among those with more than 100 students tested.[6]

In 2016 the baccalaureate was awarded to 57 day and 15 night school students. All but two of the 72 graduates scored in the two highest levels on all parts of the standardized exam.[7] Needy students from Xavier can take advantage of a special grant-in-aid program at Rafael Landívar University, directed toward them.[8]

Special programs: Theater, which began in earnest in 2000, has grown to a group for each year from kindergarten through baccalaureate, utilizing the large theater on the Xavier campus.[9] Environmentalism[10] and the study of Mayan culture are a part of the school program.[11] In the "Mission Camp" program the close to 200 students in fourth secondary spend a week living among the Mayans becoming familiar with this large segment of the country.[12] Rafael Landívar University sponsors programs for other Jesuit works, like its Ignatian Youth Encounter with themes like "A future without violence."[13] Professors from Universidad Francisco Marroquín speak to students about discovering their personal talents and entrepreneurial skills.[14] Various companies in Guatemala offer opportunities for foreign cultural exchanges, especially to the United States to improve the students' English.[15] The school has a folk marimba group which has performed at the UN library in New York.[16] There is also a swimming pool with classes as an extracurricular activity.[17]

A day-long Encounters with Christ retreat program is built into the class program for several of the years.[18] Also, students have opportunities to offer voluntary service, such as being translators for doctors from the USA who offer free medical days.[19] Efforts are made to conscientize students to their responsibility to assist those in need; a student fund-raising drive for the people of Haiti was among these efforts.[20][21]

Alumni

Notable alumni of the Xavier Lyceum include:

Rectors

  • Jorge Toruño Lizarralde (1952-1959)
  • Orlando Sacasa (1959- )
  • Laurentino Peña (1984-1990)
  • Francisco Estrada

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The Jesuits were the most powerful religious congregation during the conservative government of Lieutenant General Rafael Carrera in the middle of the nineteenth century, and as such were the principal landowners of Guatemala. To weaken the power of the conservative party, the liberal revolution that overthrew Vicente Cerna (who succeeded Carrera after his death in 1865) in 1871, attacked the economic interests of its main member, the clergy of the Catholic Church.
  2. ↑ which Rossell Arellano supported, considering the governments of Arévalo and Arbenz as communists and atheists
  3. ↑ Guatemala Lyceum, Colegio Salesiano Don Bosco, besides Liceo Javier.
  4. ↑ At that time, the school had approximately 515 students, from kindergarten to first basic, all males.
  5. ↑ During those years there were abductions, murders, and persecutions of both students and religious in general.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Acerca de nosotros - Liceo Javier". Liceo Javier (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-04-02.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Brief history of Xavier Lyceum". Liceo Javier, sitio oficial. 3 October 2014.
  3. ↑ La Patria del Criollo, ensayo de interpretación de la realidad colonial guatemalteca. México: Ediciones En Marcha. 1990.
  4. 1 2 Guatemala, la historia silenciada (1944-1989), Tomo I, Revolución y Liberación, Guatemala: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2007
  5. ↑ "Liceo Javier | Flacsi". www.flacsi.net. Retrieved 2017-04-02.
  6. ↑ "Ranking de colegios 2015". Revista Contrapoder (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-04-02.
  7. ↑ "Y nuestros resultados son... - Liceo Javier". Liceo Javier (in Spanish). 2017-02-07. Retrieved 2017-04-02.
  8. ↑ "Descuento Javier". Retrieved 2017-04-02.
  9. ↑ "Diecisiete años de hacer teatro en el Liceo Javier - Liceo Javier". Liceo Javier (in Spanish). 2017-03-27. Retrieved 2017-04-02.
  10. ↑ "Liceo Javier Reforestation Project". Community Cloud Forest Conservation. 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2017-04-02.
  11. ↑ "Noticias archivos - Liceo Javier". Liceo Javier (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-04-02.
  12. ↑ "Guatemala – Liceo Javier: Campamento Misión". www.sanbartolome.edu.co. Retrieved 2017-04-02.
  13. ↑ "Encuentro Juvenil Ignaciano – EJEGUA". ejegua.gt (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-04-02.
  14. ↑ "La FCE en el Liceo Javier - Facultad de Ciencias Económicas". Facultad de Ciencias Económicas (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-04-02.
  15. ↑ "Intercambios culturales - Liceo Javier". Liceo Javier (in Spanish). 2017-03-22. Retrieved 2017-04-02.
  16. ↑ "Conjunto de marimba del Liceo Javier de Guatemala actuará en Nueva York". Terra (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-04-02.
  17. ↑ "Así ocurrió la muerte del alumno del Liceo Javier, según el MP" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-04-02.
  18. ↑ "Iniciamos los Encuentros con Cristo - Liceo Javier". Liceo Javier (in Spanish). 2017-01-31. Retrieved 2017-04-02.
  19. ↑ "Servicio social y jornada medica - Liceo Javier". Liceo Javier (in Spanish). 2017-03-10. Retrieved 2017-04-02.
  20. ↑ Javier González (2013-12-11). "Liceo Javier de Guatemala - Informe ignacianos por haití 2013".
  21. ↑ "Consejo Estudiantil Liceo Javier (Guatemala) - Ignacianos por Haiti". Ignacianos por Haiti (in Spanish). 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2017-04-02.

Bibliography

  • El arte religioso de la Antigua Guatemala, 1773-1821; crónica de la emigración de sus imágenes (PDF). es:Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Retrieved 10 November 2014. "Doctorate in art history" (PDF). 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 December 2014.
  • 100 personajes ilustres. Guatemala: Serviprensa, C.A.

Coordinates: 14°35′8.65″N 90°33′43.81″W / 14.5857361°N 90.5621694°W / 14.5857361; -90.5621694

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