School opened this week at Colegio San Viator in Tunja, Colombia for its second year as a Viatorian school — and all signs point to growth.
Fr. Mick Egan, left and Fr. Pedro Herrera, right, helped to dedicate Querbes Park on the school’s campus last year
For starters, a construction crew works diligently to erect eight new classrooms — to accommodate its growing enrollment.
“We’ve accepted so many kids, but there’s no place to put them,” says Fr. Dan Hall, CSV, assistant provincial. “We continue to have a waiting list.”
New additions also bear the imprint of the
Construction on the eight new classrooms expects to be complete by March
Viatorians, with a new playground named after the community’s founder, Fr. Louis Querbes, and a plaque dedicated to Fr. Thomas von Behren, CSV, the provincial whose vision it was to add a second Viatorian school in Colombia.
Provincial Council member, Br. John Eustice, left, snaps a photo with the school’s administrators, Fr. Fredy Contreras, Fr. Pedro Herrera and Br. Juan Carlos Ubaque
When the Viatorians took over the school from the Congregation de Religiosas Hijas de Cristo Rey, it opened as a Viatorian-run school — with an enrollment more than double its previous year, and with a waiting list for the next school year.
“This kind of reception reflects the Viatorians and the college prep education we have established in Bogotá,” Fr. Hall added. “We have an excellent reputation in Colombia.”
Set amid the Eastern ranges of the Colombian Andes, the school features all the qualities of a Viatorian education, namely one that is faith-based, co-educational, bilingual and pastoral, with professed Viatorians on staff.
Fr. Pedro Herrara, CSV, serves as president. Ironically, he attended Colegio San Viator in Bogotá and was the first religious vocation to come out of the school. Now, he is paying his Viatorian education forward.
Br. Fredy Contreras, CSV, serves as vice president of the school, while Br. Juan Carlos Ubaque, CSV, works in Campus Ministry.