The Jesuits founded Belen Jesuit Preparatory School in 1854 in Havana, Cuba. In 1961, Belen and all private schools were confiscated by the new political regime. The School was re-established in Miami that same year and has grown over the last five decades. Currently the enrollment is nearly 1,500 male students in grades 6 to 12 and has over 6-thousand alumni. Belen Jesuit is one of the state’s best college preparatory schools and has annually been ranked as one of the nation’s top 50 Catholic high schools by The Cardinal Newman Society.