San Silvestre has many publicly recognized ex-pupils such as world surfing champion Sofia Mulanovich Aljovín and former Peruvian congresswoman Anel Townsend Diez Canseco.

Many also stay for extracurricular activities (it is compulsory to choose at least one in the lower years of senior school) which may be sports or artistic.

Early Years classes are taught entirely in English while the rest of the school follows a bilingual Spanish-English programme to achieve fluency in both languages.

In Forms III and IV there are optional French, Italian and Mandarin Chinese classes.

English, Spanish, mathematics and combined science are compulsory and the rest are chosen by the student.

Form VI does not have to wear the school uniform although they are asked to choose a dress code which they ought to follow throughout the year.

San Silvestre started in 1932 when Miss Nellie Kufal began teaching a small group of British children.

Originally called Cambridge House due to teaching the contents for Cambridge University examinations, the name was changed to "Colegio San Silvestre" in 1938 when the, then co-educational, school was recognized by the Peruvian Ministry of Education.

Besides the English Headmistress the school had a "Directora" (Spanish for Headmistress) Dr. Sofia B. de Conroy, in charge of everything related to the Peruvian educational programme as part of the school's goal of teaching the best of both educational systems.