Colegio Leon Pinelo
For Lima, Peru’s 2,300 strong Jewish community, there is only one Jewish Day school in operation: Colegio Leon Pinelo. Leon Pinelo has been considered one of the best schools in Peru for decades and is today working with ORT to upgrade the Science and ICT Departments. The school was established in 1945 and is now celebrating 71 years of providing general and Jewish education at a high international standard through the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme for children from 1 and a half years old in Pre-School up to 16-17 year olds in Grade 11, the last year of schooling.
| Name of school | Colegio Leon Pinelo |
| Location | Lima, Peru |
| Age range | Preschool, Primary, Secondary School |
| Students | 340 |
| Teachers | 86 |
Leon Pinelo is working with World ORT to become a totally digital school, implementing the Leon Pinelo 2.0 policy with STEAM – Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics projects and the introduction of the TPACK Technological, Pedagogical and Content Knowledge Model from the University of Michigan, Mobile Learning with the BYOD – Bring your Own Device option and Flipped Classroom and Gamification strategies.
This also includes fundraising for Science investigation projects, working closely on ecological matters, active participation in contests and camps and technological support.
Jewish Education
Hebrew and Jewish Studies represent an important part of the curriculum at Colegio Leon Pinelo. Spanish is the language of instruction and Hebrew is delivered as a second language together with English. Jalav uDvash, Tal Am, Lehatzliaj beivrit from Bar Ilan University and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Language B Hebrew Programmes are used for the teaching of Hebrew. Judaic Studies are taught with a Programme from the Lookstein Center also from the University of Bar Ilan.
Shabbat is honoured every Friday and the teaching of the Torah is part of the Tal Am Programme used in Primary school and is taught in Secondary School. All Jewish Festivals are celebrated and Tefila takes place every morning. The curriculum covers many varied courses including Judaism as a form of life, Tanach, Talmud, Shoah, History of the Jewish people and Philosophy of Judaism and Israel among others. Shira is delivered to the smaller children whilst the older girls, mothers and alumni enjoy Rikudim.
General Education and Extra-curricular Activities
The school offers the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme in Grades 10 and 11 and is implementing the IB PYP Primary Years Programme. It is also certified internationally every year by the University of Cambridge for English and the Bar Ilan University for Hebrew and Judaic Studies. Leon Pinelo runs a Chess Club and a Debate Programme, whilst Arts subjects including Performing Arts, Percussion, an Orff group, Dance (Rikudim), Choir, and Sports such as Basketball, Football, Volleyball, Track and Athletics, and other activities such as karate and gymnastics, are available for students and include inter-school competitions.
After school, extra support classes are offered to students with additional learning needs at the EALP Escuela de Apoyo Pedagógico Leon Pinelo.
Partnerships
The school also benefits from a number of educational partnerships with:
• Local universities: In partnership with the school, several local universities exempt Leon Pinelo’s best students from entry exams to accept them directly.
• CHAIL (Chinuch Yehudi la'Tfutzot) A programme run by the Jewish Agency to enhance high school Jewish education in Diaspora countries. CHAIL provides educational support for Jewish Studies projects and bursaries for students whose families cannot afford to cover the full cost of the fourth year school trip to Israel.
• Shoah organisations The Educational Centre for the Holocaust and Humanities and Yad Vashem in Israel have partnered with Leon Pinelo to develop shoah education and to send teachers to Seminars in Israel.
• Social responsibility programmes Including close contact with the Bikur Jolim, the home for the elderly of the Peruvian Jewish Community, Leon Pinelo have partnered with local social responsibility programmes.
• WZO World Zionist Organisation Close contact is kept with the WZO and members of Staff attend Seminars and Conferences in Israel.es in Israel.
