This is the story of a woman from the USA, a Kindergarten teacher, moved to Mexico and created what would become the American School Foundation, a rigorous, international, college-preparatory school that offers its students of diverse backgrounds the best independent American education.
More than 180 years ago, Mrs. Bessie McRae Files (1843-1928), was born in Mobile, Alabama in 1843 to Malcolm I. McRae Sr. (1811-1855) and Mary Ann Taylor (1824-1855) who were married on 24 August 1842 in Mobile, Alabama, United States. Bessie had three siblings, Taylor McRae (1845-1919) and Malcolm John McRae (1847-1865) and Mary Ann McRae (1852-1875).
Bessie McRae had been a kindergarten teacher in the United States. She married Robert Files, and they had a daughter, Mary Ann Files, who married John Davis. John Davis and his wife Mary Ann moved to Mexico City, where they resided at Columbus Street No. 9. John and Mary Ann had two children and asked Bessie if she would teach them. They were so impressed by Bessie that John suggested that they should open a school where children from English-speaking families could attend.
In 1888, Bessie converted a room in the house of John and Mary Ann Davis (Bessie’s mother) located at 2nd Iturbide Street, into a classroom, renting a piano, had furniture made locally, and brought books and materials from the USA. On August 6, 1888, the school opened with an enrollment of 19 students.
The school continued to grow and when attendance reached 94 students it became obvious that the school needed to move to a larger space. The school was moved to Colón 9, San Miguel, Iztapalapa, Mexico City (shown above), where there were 12 classrooms, two of which were used for multiple activities, such as music, art, theater, etc.
The educational institution continued to grow and changed its address a couple more times, until October 5, 1922, when the school was relocated to Insurgentes Sur and San Luis Potosí streets. Bessie would pass in 1928 at the age of 85 in Mexico City, but the school would continue with the staff Bessie had assembled and this would become the home of the American School for the next 24 years as an institution that offered basic education following the American educational model.
The school’s mission statement reads: “The American School Foundation is a rigorous, international, college-preparatory school that offers its students of diverse backgrounds the best independent American education. In all aspects of school life, students are encouraged to love learning, live with a defined purpose, and become contributing and responsible citizens of the world.”
Eventually, the school would change names to become the American School Foundation. The educational organization “The American School Foundation” is located at Calle Sur 136 # 135 in the Las Américas neighborhood in the Álvaro Obregón district of Mexico City and its virtual address on the Internet is: www.asf.edu.mx.
The American School Foundation is a private institution that offers education at the preschool through high school levels and its students generally belong to a high socioeconomic level. It is the oldest international American institution in the world, having been founded in 1888.
Dr. Paul Vincent Murray and Dr. Louis Cain, both from the USA had moved to become part of the teaching staff at the American School Foundation. On July 1, 1940 the two professors founded Mexico City College to offer higher education to graduates of the preparatory section of the American School Foundation.
Currently it has around 2,800 students, of which 62% are Mexican, 26% are from the United States and 12% come from countries in the rest of the world.
Most of the teachers who work at this institution have master’s studies and are highly trained to teach classes in the assigned subject, as well as to integrate technology into the academic programs they teach. They are mostly American and/or Canadian, since only 35% of the teachers are Mexican with very similar professional training and in some way three quarters of these teachers have cultural and family ties with our neighboring country, to the north of the Mexican Republic.
Throughout its existence, the school has never had a financial deficit or resorted to bank loans for its survival or growth, and it uses periodic fundraising campaigns to offer scholarship programs as well as to carry out expansion and maintenance work on the school buildings. The American School Foundation is also incorporated into the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and The Universidad de las Américas Puebla.
The National Autonomous University of Mexico is the largest and most important university in the world with an enrollment of over 360,000 students. Throughout time, it has played a leading role in the history and formation of Mexico, with a presence in Mexico’s 32 states. It also has presence in 9 countries, has 34 research institutes, 26 museums, and 18 historic sites.
The Universidad de las Américas Puebla, commonly known as UDLAP, is a Mexican private university located in San Andrés Cholula, near Puebla, south of Mexico City. The university is known for its programs in Finance, Arts and Humanities, Social sciences, Science and Engineering, and Business and Economics. There are 10,000 students and 1,800 employees, 763 which are the academic teaching staff.
The graduation of students by educational department is varied, with the preschool and primary departments being the most sought after due to their versatility and effectiveness in teaching-learning in English. As for high school, 35% of students are accepted into foreign universities, mainly in the United States through scholarship programs for academic excellence or exchange. The remaining 65% successfully enter private universities of good reputation, the main ones being the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, the Ibero-American University, and the Anáhuac University.
Bessie would be proud of what came from the little room at her daughter’s house in 1888!
