JUBILAR HIGH SCHOOL
"In the face of fame, we must continue to work with simplicity” said deacon Ricardo Villalba, director of Jubilar Juan Pablo II high school in Montevideo, after the international repercussions obtained thanks to the friendship of the new pope and priest Gonzalo Aemilius.
"Welcome home” says the sign in the entrance of the high school where Villalba or the coordinators greet students one by one as they arrive to the center: a brick building and sunny classrooms which stand out for their modernity in Casavalle, a neighborhood of very modest houses.
Approximately 200 teenagers are coursing the first three years of secondary education in Jubilar, which has registered exponential growth since it was inaugurated eleven years ago, with only 30 students.
By 2013, 310 families went to try to obtain one of the 70 places available for the first year and are chosen through draws. In the last years the year has incorporated a night shift for adults, the majority of which are taken by parents of students.
In addition to the popularity of the school, the educational center stands out for its academic results: while in public education repetition is placed at 30% and in the first year of high school exceeds 40%, in Jubilar it’s only 3.5% and the dropout rate is 0%.
Last Sunday Pope Francis surprised everyone during a mass in a small chapel in the Vatican, by publicly thanking and introducing father Gonzalo Aemilius, who directed the educational center until 2012.
The Argentine Pope spoke about the problem of kids in the street in Latin America and the importance of their education.
While Aemilius manifested from Rome that he was very touched by the distinction, in Montevideo the school is still recovering from the surprise.
"What we’re living is indescribable, everyone now knows that Jubilar high school exists, and not only in Uruguay. And we’re an institution with only 350 active people, between students and the team and volunteers” said dean Villalba.
"It’s a great responsibility” said Dolores Buján, Academic Vice- Principal, who held that the key to success was in “a little knowledge and a lot of love”.
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