# American Cooperative School of La Paz

American Cooperative School of La Paz or ACS Calvert (ACS), is an American international school in La Paz, Bolivia, serving kindergarten through grade 12.

## History

It was founded in 1955, with six students being taught in a house in La Paz. This number grew to 23 students under one teacher the end of 1955. The school expanded due to a wave of Americans coming to Bolivia, and in 1958 the school relocated to the Goethe Institute. Later that year the school moved to Calle 13 Calacoto, and at the same time the Bolivian Ministry of Education approved the "Cooperative Experimental School"'s designation as an experimental school. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), around 1960, gave the school a grant to purchase a new campus. That year, there were 316 students.
The master plan for the current school campus was completed in 1963. The school attempted to establish a partnership with the Colegio Franklin Delano Roosevelt, The American School of Lima in Lima, Peru; As part of this in 1964 it briefly changed its own name to "Franklin D. Roosevelt School," but the attempted partnership failed and the name changed to American Cooperative School in 1965.
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accredited the school in 1968, and during the same year the Bolivian Ministry of Education began to allow graduates of the school to obtain Bolivian bachillerato high school diplomas.

## Campuses

The former Calle 13 Calacoto location, as of 2015, houses the Hotel Calacoto.
As of 2015 the only portion of the USAID-purchased campus still remaining is the playground's garden bridge, which is made of stone. When the school purchased the campus the "Casa del Sol" and "Patino House" were already present, and the school later constructed and demolished additional buildings.

## Notable Alumni

* Axel Borg, academic librarian and wine bibliographer at University of California at Davis
* Patricia Cavero, medical doctor Board-certified in cardiology
* Marcelo Claure
* Manuel Contreras Cabezas, economic historian and long-time World Bank executive
* Maria Eguia, Bolivian national swimming champion and medalist at South American Games
* Eduardo Gamarra, professor of political science at Florida International University
* Andrea Gonzalez Karpovics, Board-certified family doctor, National Hispanic Medical Association resident of the year
* Fernando Gonzalez (1960), Board certified urologist and surgeon educated at Harvard College and Northwestern Medical School
* Mauricio Gonzalez Sfeir
* Mark Henderson, founder and owner of record stores in New England
* Iberkleid, textile industrialist
* Larissa Karpovics Hendren, lawyer & assistant attorney general State of California
* David Martin (1953), British-Bolivian cardiologist educated in the United Kingdom and later on the faculty of Harvard Medical School
* Antonio Nemtala, Bolivian businessman and investor in US telecom tech
* Doug Penland, Belize real estate developer and semi-pro basketball player*
* Vanessa Quiroga Coupal, Google executive
* Emily Georgette Sfeir, Major US Army, Afghan war veteran, participated in Project Argo to rescue and evacuate Afghan translators and interpreters from Taliban-controlled territory