Instituto San Isidro

The Instituto de Enseñanza Secundaria San Isidro (IES San Isidro) is a co-educational day school for pupils from 12 to 18 years of age. It is located in the historical Calle de Toledo in Madrid, Spain. It is one of 66 secondary schools established in provincial capitals and other major cities under the 1836 Plan General de Instrucción Pública. Most of these schools occupied the premises of disentailed convents and other church buildings. Originally a boys' school, it became coeducational and state-owned in the second half of the 20th century. The school occupies part of a site belonging to several earlier schools, indirectly tracing its origins to 1346, and is considered the oldest non-university education center in Spain. San Isidro has educated eight Spanish prime ministers and was formerly referred to as the "nanny" of Spain's statesmen. With the discovery of the Americas, the school gained importance in educating young men who would later become a credit to the Spanish Empire. It has four Nobel Prize laureates among its alumni: José Echegaray, Jacinto Benavente, Vicente Aleixandre, and Camilo José Cela. Heritage