The main influences for the development of the New School in America, the first of its kind in South America, were mainly those of Ovide Decroly, Maria Montessori, and to a lesser extent, Jean Piaget. Don Agustín met all of them personally and engaged in intellectual conversation with them while studying in Europe. He carried their ideas back to America, and applied and modified them in a novel way according to the spirit and environment of Colombia in the 20th century.