Ateneo de Iloilo


The Ateneo de Iloilo – Santa Maria Catholic School,, is a private, Jesuit, Catholic, Chinese-Filipino Basic Education school run by the Philippine Province of the Society of Jesus in Iloilo City, Philippines. It is a non-stock and non-profit institution duly accredited by the Philippine Council for NGO Certification. It is also recognized by the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities with Level 2 accreditation. 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 Santa Maria 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 Chinese language, Christian Living Education, and Ignatian Spirituality programs. It is known for its excellence in the fields of academics and values formation.

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, 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. 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.
Meanwhile, 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, Sacred Heart School–Ateneo de Cebu, and Xavier School.

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. 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 is the main campus of the school. Buildings for the preschool, grade school, high school, and administration were 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 worth P200 million for the use of the Grade School Department and the Administration were held on June 1, 2013. Construction of the Grade School and Administration buildings began in late 2013. It was opened for Preschool and Grades 1-2 in 2016 and became fully operational the school year after.
The school has totally transferred to the new site in Barangay San Rafael, Mandurriao District, Iloilo City, in 2017, with 2,100 students and 200 faculty and staff. The old campus at General Blanco Street is now being used as a center for evangelization and pastoral activities by the Jesuits. This school year 2018–2019 marks the school's Golden Anniversary with a theme: 60 years of forming leaders ignited by love and service.

Jesuit administrators

Directors

President

Motto

The motto of the school is In Omnibus Amare et Servire which was taken from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

Logo

The logo has multiple parts. The shield colors represents the Philippine flag. The blue band on top has the capital letters "AM". The lower two-thirds of the shield contains the lobo y olla, of the House of Loyola, and a stone fort for the emblem of the city of Iloilo.
Above the shield is a gold medallion with the letters IHS.
On both sides of the shield in gold are the Chinese characters 聖母 which means Blessed Mother.
The entire seal is enclosed in a circle composed of two semicircular scrolls: The upper scroll contains the current official name of the school and The lower scroll contains the name of the school since its foundation.

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.

PAASCU accreditation

During the five-year term of Fr. Renato Puentevella, S.J, as Director - Principal, SMCS went through the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges, and Universities 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 and for 2016–2021. It is set for another PAASCU re-accreditation on February, 2022.