Assumption College (Philippines)

From WikiPilipinas: The Hip 'n Free Philippine Encyclopedia

Assumption College
School type	Private, Catholic school
Colors	gold, white, blue
Location	Template:Country

Assumption Antipolo (A.A.) is a private Roman Catholic/Christian school located in the city of Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines.

1 History
2 Prominent Administrators and Sisters
3 Prominent Alumnae
4 References
5 External Links
6 Citation

[edit] History

The Congregation of the Religious of the Assumption was founded in Paris on the April 30, 1839, by Saint Marie Eugenie Milleret de Brou (1817-1898). The religious order concentrates on education of the children of the elite as its core mission for the transformation of society through gospel value and life centered on Jesus Christ.

The Religious of the Assumption arrived in the Philippines in 1892 upon the invitation of Queen Regent Maria Cristina of Spain to establish the Escuela Normal Superior De Maestras (Superior Normal School for Women Teachers) in Intramuros in 1892. It was a pioneer in the formation of women teachers and leaders in the country, which was the personal mission of the foundress saint.

Among its illustrious alumnae were Rosa Sevilla de Alvero who established Instituto de Mujeres, the co-founders of Centro Escolar University, Librada Avelino andCarmen de Luna.

The full outbreak of the Philippine Revolution in 1898 caused the return of the Assumption sisters to Paris and the school was abruptly stopped.

In 1904 the current Pope Pius X requested the religious order to restart their mission, this time with a group of English-speaking Assumption Sisters, with Mother Helen Margaret as Superior, and Mother Rosa Maria. The Sisters opened Assumption Convent this time in a Neo-Gothic campus on the corner of Herran and Dakota Streets in Malate, Manila. Assumption Convent operated as a boarding school with both elementary and secondary levels. The school quickly gained a reputation with elite Filipino families from all over the islands who sent their children there to be educated in Spanish and French. Later in 1940 a college department was added.

In World War II the Herran campus was completely destroyed during the Battle of Manila in 1945. After the war classes were resumed in quonset huts. The superior Mother Rosa Maria was able to re-establish the convent school when she began reconstruction in 1947. It fully reopened the following year.

With the rapid growth of Manila outside its original city line, the sisters were aided by the Zobel de Ayala family to open a second campus in the then barren area of San Lorenzo, Makati. New buidings were put up there to house the college level in 1959. In the 1970s the sisters planned the gradual abandonment of their original Herran campus to shift operations to Makati and a new site along Sumulong Highway in Antipolo, Rizal. The sisters perceived the Herran site as increasingly too commercial and touristic for education. Little by little the Manila elementary and high schools were transferred to Makati, starting in 1972. The following year both the Herran and San Lorenzo schools were merged. In September 1974 the grade school was transferred to Assumption Antipolo.

Assumption College parents who wished to educate their children throughout all levels found the distance between Antipolo and Manila too difficult to manage. They lobbied to have the sisters reopen the elementary level in Makati. Finally Grade 1 was reopened in 1981 and phased in year after year till March 1983, when Grade 7 was offered in Makati.

However the distance between Antipolo and Manila became a constant to many parents who wanted Assumption education for their children. The persistent appeal of the alumnae and parents to re-open the elementary level in San Lorenzo was heeded. Grade 1 was re-opened in 1981 and starting schoolyear 1988-89 grade levels were added until the San Lorenzo Grade School graduated its first Grade 7 students in March 1993.

In the 1970's, Assumption College started to offer Mass Communication and in the 1980's, Computer Education in its curriculum. The Graduate School was opened in 1997, offering Masters Programs in Education and Psychology.