The Ateneo de Iloilo - Santa Maria Catholic School (AdI-SMCS), (simplified Chinese: ?????????; traditional Chinese: ?????????; pinyin: Yíl?ng Yàdi?nyào Shèngm? Xuéxiào), is a private, Catholic, Chinese Filipino preparatory school run by the Philippine Province of the Society of Jesus in Iloilo City, Philippines. Ateneo de Iloilo began in 1958 as a parochial school named Santa Maria Catholic School. In 2004, the school was officially recognized as a Jesuit school separate from the parish and was renamed Ateneo de Iloilo - Santa Maria Catholic School. It is the eighth Jesuit school in the Philippines to be named Ateneo. Ateneo de Iloilo is a K-12 school and its curriculum includes a Chinese language program.
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History
Early years
The Jesuits came to Iloilo City in 1953 after being expelled from China by the Communists, and continued their apostolic work in the local Chinese community. They first did parish-pastoral ministry. With the support of the Iloilo Chinese and Filipino communities, Santa Maria Parish under the tutelage of Our Lady Queen of China was established by Fr. Guerrino Marsecano, an Italian Jesuit missionary.
Jesuits believe that quality education is essential in molding good Catholic Christians. So in 1958, with nine students as enrollees, Frs. Andrew Joliet, a French Jesuit, and Santiago Leon, a Spanish Jesuit, acting as Founder/Director and Principal respectively, opened a parochial school that came to be known as Sta. Maria Catholic School (SMCS). A year after the founding of the school, a two-story wooden building was constructed to provide the students with eight classrooms. In 1962, through the beneficence of Eduardo and Cesar Lopez, additional classrooms were built on the brothers' lot situated across the street.
SMCS had its first batch of graduates from the Grade School Department in school year 1965-66. The school accepted its first batch of high school freshmen in school year 1966-67. SMCS held its first high school graduation in March 1970. In 1968, the Philippine government recognized SMCS as a Filipino school with a comprehensive Chinese language program.
From nine pupils in 1958, SMCS's student population had continuously grown. It accepted a total of 615 enrollees for high school alone in 1970. However, due to the decision of the Chinese Provincial Superior to maintain only an elementary school, no freshmen were accepted for the school year 1971-72. As a result, high school enrollment plummeted to 513 and to 481 the following year. When parents of the students protested the phasing-out of the high school department, the Chinese Provincial Superior reconsidered his decision. A year after, enrollment started picking up as freshmen were again allowed to enroll for the school year 1972-73. In school year 2013-14, total enrollment of the school from Kindergarten to Grade 10 was 1,500. The school expects to peak at more than 2,000 enrollees when it completes the implementation of the government mandated K-12 basic education program in 2018.
A donation of 3,600 square meters of land by the Lopez family in June 1972 paved the way for the construction of a four-story concrete building in 1974 to replace the wooden one. The French-German missionary Fr. Arthur Baur, S.J., parish priest and Superior of the Sta. Maria community, added a new wing to the school in 1977.
Despite the limitations of a constricted space, SMCS's complex continued to grow under the tenure of Fr. Chi. When SMCS celebrated its 25th founding anniversary in 1983, improvements such as the construction of additional comfort rooms, large classrooms, and a cluster of offices were undertaken. A two-story structure was also put up to house classrooms for kindergarten pupils. Two years later, administrative offices on the ground floor of the school were renovated and a conference room was added.
The integration of the Jesuits of the China Province delegation in the Philippines into the Jesuit Philippine Province in September 27, 1988, resulted in all the former delegation works being placed under the care and control of the Philippine Jesuit provincial superior. This facilitated the assignment of Filipino Jesuits to the three Chinese-Filipino schools run by Jesuits: the Santa Maria Catholic School (Iloilo), Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu, and Xavier School (San Juan, Metro Manila).
Name change
With the incessant clamor of SMCS alumni and the local Iloilo community to let their children study in a Jesuit school, a plan for expansion and transfer to a new and better site was initiated.
In April 30, 2004, a Memorandum of Agreement was signed by Jesuit Father Provincial Romeo J. Intengan, S.J., Fr. Manuel A. Uy Jr., S.J., Director of SMCS, and Victor F. Pison of the Kauuturan Pison Development Corporation (KAPIDECO). The latter was donating 2.5 hectares of land to be part of the 7.5-hectare campus of a new Ateneo, the first in the Visayas. Archbishop Angel Lagdameo of the Archdiocese of Jaro and Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas, an Ateneo de Manila alumnus, witnessed the MOA signing which formalized the establishment of the Ateneo de Iloilo - Santa Maria Catholic School, a Jesuit school separate from the parish.
The new school campus is on a 7.5-hectare property in Barangay San Rafael, Mandurriao District, Iloilo City. This site will be the main campus of the school in the future. Buildings for the preschool, grade school, high school, and administration will be constructed in this new campus, along with a covered gymnasium, sports complex, and church. Phase 1 of the master plan of the new campus was completed when the High School Department transferred to the new site in June 2010.
Groundbreaking rites for the construction of a four-story building (Phase 2) worth P200 million which will house the Grade School Department and the administration were held on June I, 2013. In attendance at the historical event were Jesuit Father Provincial Jose Cecilio Magadia, S.J., Board of Trustees chairman Fr. Antonio Samson, S.J., school president Fr. Joseph Y. Haw, S.J., school chaplain Fr. Antonio Robrto Sian, S.J., Ateneo de Cebu president Fr. Manny Uy, S.J., former Jesuit provincial superior Romeo J. Intengan, S.J., Victor F. Pison, chairman of KAIPDECO, Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog, and Iloilo City councilors among many others. Also present were school administrators, staff, faculty, students alumni, and parents. The ceremony started with the blessing rites led by Fr. Samson, S.J., followed by speeches. Construction of the Grade School and Administration buildings (Phase 2) began in late 2013.
After the school has totally transferred to the new site in Barangay San Rafael, Mandurriao District, Iloilo City, the old campus at General Blanco Street will be used as a center for evangelization and pastoral activities by the Jesuits.
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School symbols
Motto
The motto of the school is In Omnibus Amare et Servire ("To Love and Serve in All Things") which was taken from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
Shield
The shield is divided into three parts, colored red, white, and blue, the colors of the Philippine flag. The upper one-third of the shield is a blue band on which are the capital letters "AM" (Ave Maria) in white symbolic of the Blessed Virgin Mary to whom the school has been dedicated from the beginning: blue and White are the colors associated with the Immaculate Conception and are the colors of many Ateneos in the Philippines. The lower two-thirds of the shield contains the lobo y olla ("wolf and pot" in Spanish), of the House of Loyola and a stone fort - the emblem of the city of Iloilo where a stone fort used to guard the coast.
Above the shield is a gold medallion with the letters IHS, the first three Greek letters (iota, eta, sigma) in the Greek name of Jesus, and the three nails joined together. This is the official emblem of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuit Order. From the Jesus medallion emanates golden rays.
On both sides of the shield in gold are the Chinese characters ?? (pinyin: Shèngm?) which means Blessed Mother.
Below the shield is a golden scroll on which is the motto In Omnibus Amare et Servire ("To Love and Serve in All Things") which is taken from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
The entire seal is enclosed in a circle composed of two semicircular scrolls. The upper scroll contains the current official name of the school: Ateneo de Iloilo. The lower scroll contains the name of the school since its foundation: Santa Maria Catholic School.
Mascot
The "Blue Dragon" is the mascot of the Ateneo de Iloilo - Santa Maria Catholic School. It combines the valor of the Chinese dragon with the color of the school's patroness, Mary, under the title of Our Lady of China.
School name
The name Ateneo is the Spanish form of Athenæum, which the Dictionary of Classical Antiquities defines as the name of "the first educational institution in Rome" where "rhetoricians and poets held their recitations." Hadrian's school drew its name from a Greek temple dedicated to Athena, the goddess of wisdom. The said temple, according to the Encyclopædia Britannica, was where "poets and men of learning were accustomed to meet and read their productions." Athenæum is also used in reference to schools and literary clubs. The closest English translation is academy, referring to institutions of secondary learning.
The Ateneo de Iloilo is not the only Jesuit school that the Jesuits named Ateneo. The Society of Jesus in the Philippines has established sixteen schools all over the Philippines since 1590 and named nine of them Ateneo. Ateneo de Iloilo was the eight school named Ateneo. Over the years, the name "Ateneo" has become synonymous with academic excellence.
PAASCU accreditation
During the five-year term (1991-1996) of Fr. Renato Puentevella, S.J, as Director - Principal, SMCS went through the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges, and Universities (PAASCU) Preliminary Survey and Formal Survey. The Grade School Department was granted a three-year PAASCU accreditation in 1995 and the High School Department followed suit the following year. SMCS applied for PAASCU re-accreditation in November 1999 and was granted accreditation for another five years.
In November 2004, PAASCU conducted a resurvey visit. Both the Grade School and High School Departments were granted re-accreditation for 2005-2010. Similar accreditation was granted to the school for 2010-2015.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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