Monday, December 21, 2009

*173. ASSUMPTION ACADEMY OF PAMPANGA

ASSUMPTIONISTAS OF PAMPANGA. Alumni of Assumption Academy gather for a post-war reunion at the hallowed school grounds of the school that would be the pre-cursor of the St. Scholastica's Academy. Dated 1947.

The school that would be the predecessor of St. Scholastica’s Academy in San Fernando was founded as a parochial high school in June 1925 in the house of the Singians. The Singians were prominent Fernandinos that intermarried with the similarly extended Dayrit and Hizon clans. They generously offered their residence to the school that was known as Assumption Academy of Pampanga, under the auspices of Msgr. Prudencio David. The school was administered by Benedictine sisters and offered primary and intermediate general courses for Kapampangan students.

Five years later, the school produced its first graduates, and soon, Assumption Academy found favor among Fernandino families for its quality of education. Enrollment was brisk and in 1931, the school was relocated to its second site in Barangay Sta. Teresita (at the back of the church of San Fernando).

By 1933, the Academy was offering special courses like Music, with Piano as its field of specialty. Modern languages like Spanish, German and French were also taught. Typing and clerical subjects popular choices too, and so were the Art courses that included Painting, Drawing and Embroidery. Meanwhile, kindergarten classes continued to be open for both boys and girls. In 1938, the ownership was transferred to the Benedictine Sisters, making it the third school in the province to be ran by this order, after the Holy Family Academy of Angeles (formerly the Colegio de la Sagrada Familia) and Saint Mary’s Academy of Bacolor.

During World War II, the school was used as a military hospital, and so remained unscathed. In 1966, Assumption was renamed Saint Scholastica’s Academy and has been known by that name since. Floods in 1972 caused major damages to the school, prompting the transfer of St. Scholastica to higher ground, along McArthur Highway, where it has become one of the city’s landmarks.

Fondly called by its nickname, “St. Scho”, it counts well-known “kulasas” like Myrna Panlilio (the very first “Bb. Pilipinas” 1964), Anicia del Corro (Kapampangan language expert) and Ma. Theresa “Cherith” Dimson Dayrit-Garcia (honor graduate-turned militant killed in an NPA raid in Isabela) as among its graduates. Today, St. Scholastica’s Academy of San Fernando continues to operate and provide well-rounded education to a new generation of Kapampangan students, molding their Christian character while equipping them with knowledge and skills to meet the exciting challenges of the future.

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