Amid the disruption caused by COVID-19, the administrative team at Colegio San Viator-Bogotá managed to earn a coveted certification based on the quality of their educational services.
Fr. Albeyro Vanegas, CSV
Colegio San Viator in Bogota has earned several awards, including this partnership in 2016 with the Universidad de La Sabana.
Fr. Albeyro Vanegas, CSV, President, announced the news to the community on the school’s YouTube channel.
“In these troubled times, I am delighted to share with you the great news of a new award for our school,” Fr. Vanegas said. “We have been recognized by the European Foundation for Quality Management with the European Seal of Excellence 500+ (5 star), a distinction that only four schools in Colombia hold.”
Mr. Carlos Trebilcock, Principal, led the quality management team. They worked long hours, even during the quarantine, to comply with all the demands of the EFQM organization.
Mr. Carlos Trebilcock led the accreditation team.
“It has been a hard but very rewarding experience,” Mr. Trebilcock said. “To have achieved this, is a milestone in the life of our school. It places St. Viator Bogotá among a very few select schools in the world who have obtained it.”
Colegio San Viator in Bogotá
He also recognized the commitment and support, not only of his team, but of the entire school community. The certification will be awarded within the next few days in a virtual ceremony.
The school now embarks on the mission of maintaining and even improving their processes, to ensure the high qualification is revalidated over the years to come. The EFQM is a model that recognizes organizations with best performance in the world in quality management. Their certification processes are re-assessed every two years.
Fr. Alejandro Adame, CSV
Fr. Vanegas is approaching the end of his 18 years as President of the colegio. Fr. Alejandro Adame, CSV, — who brings 25 years of experience — has been named to succeed him. Fr. Vanegas’ leadership earned the praise of Fr. Daniel Hall, CSV, Provincial.
“He has moved the institution forward into a position that is setting the standard in Bogotá and throughout Colombia,” Fr. Hall said in a letter to the Chicago Province.
Fr. Vanegas’ vision of a Viatorian school is one that provides all students with access to a quality education. Consequently, during his years as President, the school has implemented great changes: It went from an all male school to a co-educational institution. It successfully adopted three of the IB (International Baccalaureate) programs and implemented a bilingual education project (Spanish and English).