Figure 1.-- Saint-Jean-de-Passy school in Froyennes, Belgium is undated, but looks to date to the 1920s. Note that some of the boys are wearing a milirary-styled uniform and others regular suits. We are not sure if the uniform was changing or the boys had two sets of unifirms.

Saint-Jean-de-Passy is a higly respected private catholic boarding school originally founded by the Frères de Passy in Paris (1839). The Third French Republic that was established diring the Franco-Prussian War (1870) initiated many redorms. One of the policies pursued was to reduce the role of the Catholic Church in France, especially its role in religion. The seculars reforms if the Republic forced the Frères de Passy to leave France (1905). They relocated in Froyennes, Belgium. The hope was always that they could return to Paris. While located in Belgium, many of the same French childtren continued to attend the school. And French parents as well as Belgian parents with a strong Catholic orientation continued to chosse the school for their children. Back in Paris, patents in the Parisian neighborhood of Passy, started using the abandoned buildings of the old boarding school to reconstitute a school without the religious attributes to satisfy the government's securalizing regulations. The school joined the regional diocese and renamed itself Saint Jean de Passy (1933).

Created: 3:02 AM 8/8/2014
Last updated: 3:02 AM 8/8/2014