IN A memorandum released on March 13, University President Jose Ramon Villarin, SJ announced the opening of a co-educational Ateneo Senior High School (SHS) in school year 2016 to 2017.

The opening of the SHS is in compliance with the ongoing Kindergarten to Grade 12 (K-12) Basic Education Reform Program which entails the restructure of basic education into six years of grade school and six years of high school.

The Ateneo High School (AHS) will then be composed of four years of Junior High School from Grades 7 to 10, and two years of SHS from Grades 11 to 12.

The SHS will be accepting all incoming Grade 11 students and an additional 300 boys and girls from public, parochial and select private schools across the country.

As stated in the memorandum, the co-ed nature of the SHS will be part of the students’ preparation for college.

The Ateneo Grade School and the rest of the AHS, however, will remain exclusive for boys.

According to Vice President for Basic Education Anthony Ceasar Pabayo, SJ, the select private schools are small private schools that are not yet ready to offer senior high school to its students.

He added that the expansion will also be open to Jesuit schools in the provinces.

In addition, Pabayo said that 100 deserving students will be granted with scholarships in order for them to avail of an Ateneo Jesuit education despite the financial hindrance.

Rationale

According to Pabayo, the Ateneo’s Basic Education Committee started the decision making process for the expansion in July 2014.

In November of the same year, the proposal for the SHS was presented to the Ateneo Board of Trustees and a partial decision to accept 300 more students was made.

On February 7, the board agreed to have a co-ed SHS.

Pabayo said the decision to create the SHS is geared towards the school’s strategic thrust of nation-building.

Since Villarin’s appointment as university president in 2011, the Ateneo has been dedicated to the three strategic plans of nation-building, environment development, and mission and identity.

“[The expansion is] really helping out the education system, especially the public schools. We realized that [there are] a lot of public schools, especially in Quezon City, that won’t be able to offer senior high school,” Pabayo said.

He further explained the decision to accept students who will be coming from other schools is due to the projected drop in the freshmen enrollment rate in 2016.

The disparity in enrollees will be caused by other high schools that have already been implementing programs similar to the K-12.

Pabayo also said that there was no debate in accepting female students only for the SHS which will serve as a pre-college preparation.

Moreover, Pabayo stressed that acceptance to the SHS does not guarantee admission to the Loyal Schools (LS); AHS graduates will still be required to take the Ateneo College Entrance Test.

Starting 2018, the LS will no longer accept students lacking two years of basic education.

Turning co-ed

Pabayo said that the first year of implementing a co-ed SHS will be “awkward.”

However, he hopes that as the Basic Education Committee comes up with programs and clear strategies in teaching co-ed classes, “[the change] will be an exciting opportunity for [the] boys to deal with the reality of the world; that this is a world of boys and girls.”

AHS alumnus Jordan Cruz said that being raised in a high school set-up exclusively for boys helped nurture a strong relationship with his high school peers.

“There’s just a different kind of bonding and set of friendships that form with the all boys set-up. I personally thank that kind of bonding as it was a really big factor in making me who I am today,” he said.

However, Cruz echoes Pabayo in that creating a co-ed SHS is beneficial because it will help prepare the students for the world which is “a mixture of genders.”

Expansion preparations

The SHS will be opened in June 2016 to allow the school a year of preparations.

Pabayo said that the Basic Education Committee is still coming up with clear guidelines, application procedures and requirements for the SHS, with June as their target release of student admission announcements.

However, he mentioned that the entrance test for the SHS might be slated for October this year.

The admission of applicants will depend on their results on the said entrance test and their transcript of records.

Pabayo also said that there is currently no building to house the SHS. However, there are plans of constructing a building near the football field of the AHS campus.

Furthermore, Pabayo said there are plans to upgrade the guidance program of the high school considering that additional concerns may arise due to the presence of girls in the SHS population.

For AHS alumnus Dranz Barbin, expanding into a co-ed SHS is a way to extend quality education to deserving students.

“The Jesuit educational system makes sure you undergo holistic development so you know the students are in good hands,” he said.

Likewise, Pabayo said the expansion is a chance for the school to reach higher standards of excellence.