Florida Senate - 2012                            (NP)    SR 1562
       
       
       
       By Senator Diaz de la Portilla
       
       
       
       
       36-01442-12                                           20121562__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing Belen Jesuit Preparatory
    3         School in Miami on the occasion of its 50th
    4         Anniversary.
    5  
    6         WHEREAS, in 1961, the new political regime in Cuba
    7  confiscated the property of Belen Jesuit Preparatory School and
    8  expelled the Jesuit faculty, and the school was reestablished in
    9  Miami the same year, and
   10         WHEREAS, in 1962, Belen Jesuit Preparatory School acquired
   11  its first building in Miami and moved to a new site, and
   12         WHEREAS, in 1981, a groundbreaking was held for a new
   13  building on a 30-acre site located in west Miami-Dade County,
   14  and, later that year, the facility opened with 598 students, and
   15         WHEREAS, in 1996, Belen Jesuit Preparatory School received
   16  accreditation from the prestigious Southern Association of
   17  Colleges and Schools and, in 2010, was named one of the Top 50
   18  Catholic high schools in the nation, and
   19         WHEREAS, Belen Jesuit Preparatory School now has 1,470
   20  students, and the facilities have expanded to include the
   21  Ignatian Center for the Arts, the Ophelia and Juan Roca Theater,
   22  the Olga and Carlos Saladrigas Art Gallery, and a new
   23  administration building, and
   24         WHEREAS, the students, faculty, and staff at Belen Jesuit
   25  Preparatory School remain committed to the school’s core values,
   26  which include working as a community for the greater glory of
   27  God, striving to do more in sharing the Gospel values, learning
   28  and serving, and caring for the entire person, and
   29         WHEREAS, the foundation of education at Belen Jesuit
   30  Preparatory School is based on religious formation, academic
   31  excellence, value education, social responsibility, and athletic
   32  achievement, and
   33         WHEREAS, as a Jesuit school following the Ignatian
   34  tradition of excellence, Belen Jesuit Preparatory School strives
   35  to provide leaders who are men of character committed to the
   36  Christian spirits of understanding, social justice, and concern
   37  for others, NOW, THEREFORE,
   38  
   39  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   40  
   41         That the members of the Senate recognize the invaluable
   42  contributions that Belen Jesuit Preparatory School in Miami has
   43  made to the South Florida community and extend congratulations
   44  to its students, faculty, administration, staff, and alumni on
   45  the occasion of its 50th Anniversary.