Parentes International Educational Network welcomes Los Sauces School, located in Puebla, Mexico. Founded in 2005 by a group of parents committed to providing their children with a solid intellectual, human, and spiritual education, this school joins the Educational Network to continue its mission of shaping leaders capable of serving others and positively influencing society.
The incorporation of Los Sauces School into the Parentes International Educational Network became official last August. Thus, the 2023-2024 academic year has started with this educational institution fully integrated into the body of over 50 centers that make up the Educational Network, benefiting from the support of the Proeduca group and its extensive experience in management and education.
We interviewed Haydeé Castillo, President of the Board of Los Sauces School, to address specific aspects of the school’s integration into the Educational Network and the benefits it will bring to the educational community.
PF: Could you briefly summarize Los Sauces School’s trajectory since its foundation?
HC: It all started in 2005 during a meeting with Father Ramón Salas, who was then the Vicar of Opus Dei for Mexico City and the southeastern part of the country. In this meeting, a group of parents exchanged concerns about educational options for our children, and Father Ramón Salas encouraged us to start our educational initiative. With the support of Opus Dei, he assured us he could help with Christian formation.
We began in 2005 with the opening of the nursery in a rented space. In 2008, at the request of parents, we opened the girls’ school from first to sixth grade. Each year, we added another grade until reaching high school. In 2010, we started with the boys’ institute. That year, we had 315 students, and the demand for enrollment was increasing.
Due to the need for growth, we started looking for a strategic ally. In April, we contacted the Parentes Foundation. Finally, in August, the Parentes-Sauces partnership was formalized.
PF: Will this affect students, faculty, and staff in any way?
HC: The most significant change has been that, for project viability, we have become a coeducational school, and our students from elementary school onwards have moved to a single building, sharing all spaces. Otherwise, the name Los Sauces and the uniform are maintained, although the Parentes logo is added to the school emblem.
The Christian ideology of the school, its mission – to collaborate with parents in the comprehensive education of their children through personalized education, instilling solid human and Christian virtues, and maintaining a high academic level so that they positively influence their environment – and its vision of consolidating itself as the best educational option for families seeking comprehensive education, where all participants in the project align with the educational model and promote it from their position, remain unchanged.
Regarding the innovations driven by integration into the Educational Network, for the upcoming school year, students and teachers will have access to personal improvement programs, affectivity, and career guidance, as well as the opportunity to participate in exchanges with other schools in the Network.
PF: What does it mean for the development of Los Sauces School to become part of the Parentes International Educational Network?
HC: It means being able to take the Los Sauces project to its maximum capacity and scope, reaching and helping more families in the education of their children. Thanks to integration into the Parentes International Educational Network, Los Sauces is now a stronger and more competitive institution, with an ambitious and promising future.
PF: What would you say to parents and students starting the new school year as part of the Parentes Educational Network?
HC: That they are entering the best institution, where they will find academic excellence, sports, support, guidance, and Christian formation for their children and the entire family. Los Sauces will prepare their children optimally to enter any university with the necessary foundations to excel not only in the university environment but also in any situation. Their children will be capable of developing their life plan, taking into account the needs of others, especially the less fortunate, leading the way towards a more humane society. In this way, their family will be part of a warm community of good friends who seek the same and have much in common regarding how they educate their children and what they understand as a Christian family.