Val Père Jacques School – Bkennaya

School history

It is the oldest school of Abouna Yaacoub. It opened its doors in 1919, and moved from the house of “Abou Amin” in Jall El Dib, to Dar Al-Mir, to the house of “Souleiman Nassar”, then to the house of “Gerges Khalil”, it finally settled down in the house of “Bou Samaan”, where the Founder father bought the land, and built a school known as the Saint Francis School.

This school had first been run by the Franciscan nuns “Lons le Saunier” for ten years and a half, with the help of the parish priest and some of the intellectuals in the village. It prospered after the World War II and another section was added to it, then it was transformed into a secondary school. Later, a second school was built around it, which, after the death of Abouna Yaacoub and in his memory, bore his name, Free School of Mar Yaacoub.

In 1978, the school was transferred to the vicinity of Our Lady of the Well Convent and preparations began to build a new school with different cycles, in order to meet challenges imposed on it. And in memory of the baptism of Abouna Yaacoub, on February 21, 1979, the first stone is laid of a building which will bear the name of “the valley of Abouna Yaacoub”, which means “Val Père Jacques”, in the name of its Founder and because of its geographical situation. Thus, it maintains the line traced by the Founder. Moreover, it follows his footsteps, rising through the ranks of progress and prosperity. It is one of the major Catholic schools that is proud of its exams results and the educational goals based on the orientations of the Church, the curricula of the Lebanese State and the principles of Abouna Yaacoub in terms of education, particularly in the choice of the teacher with the required skills and moral values.

The school today

The school includes teachers who devote themselves to their educational mission, for the good of students in five cycles, from kindergarten to grade 12. It is a space of spiritual, human, social and national development; it welcomes children of different affiliations and social categories. Its educational philosophy is based on spiritual, human, national and cultural values, derived from the vision of the Founder: to form young people capable of improving the quality of life and of being good leaders. The school also provides all kinds of spiritual (Franciscan Youth and Messenger Mothers of Blessed Abouna Yaacoub), patriotic, artistic, sporting, scientific, cultural, extracurricular and scouting activities;  adding to this parents’ committee and Alumni committee.

In order to achieve a pedagogical and educational renaissance, in accordance with the requirements of our time, the school organizes continuous training for teachers in all stages, according to educational and pedagogical needs. In addition, it provides training for heads of cycles and coordinators, through training sessions given by specialists from Saint-Joseph University of Beirut-USJ, with the aim of unifying our educational vision and improving performances.

Committed to preserving the spiritual matters, being a Catholic school taking the name of Abouna Yaacoub, the school gives great importance to mass, christian education and spiritual accompaniment of students and their families if needed be, as well as to spiritual activities and celebrations throughout the school year, especially the Founder’s birthday celebration on February 1. A “School Pastoral Team” has been created with the aim of creating a spiritual, human and social space that will help the educational community to “live better together” and will contribute to unifying the celebrations between the different cycles. 

The school celebrated its centenary (2019-2020), a jubilee of gratitude for the accomplishments made in the educational mission, thus giving fruits of goodness and blessings establishing knowledge and truth, and promoting love. For more information: www.valperejacques.edu.lb