With the spirit of initiative, the first FMA’s promoted a serious and enlightened education of young women by means of instruction, professional preparation and Christian formation, according to an integral educative project similar to Don Bosco.

 

The “ministry of education” for the salvation of youth to which Mary Domenica Mazzarello was called, a ministry which is carried out by every Daughter of Mary Help of Christians (Salesian Sisters) in time, is best exemplified in our schools the world over. (Acts of the GC XIX) From its humble beginnings in Mornese, a simple village in Italy, the   congregation is now a presence in more than 70 countries all over the world with more than 17, 000 FMA’s (an Italian acronym for Daughters of Mary Help of Christians) who live and work with the young in the style of the Preventive System.

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In 1955, the communists’ take over of China forced the FMA missionaries stationed there to move to Hong Kong and then to the Philippines where they started a variety of apostolic works such as the oratory youth centers and schools. After 48 years of its educative presence, the Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco of the Philippine province can be found in 15 communities in Luzon and Visayas. They involve themselves in various forms of apostolic presences such as the oratory youth centers, catechetical apostolate, schools, street children, boarding houses, student centers, technology centers and in many other various forms of human-social promotion such as medical-dental and livelihood programs.   

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Mary Help of Christians College—Salesian Sisters, Inc. is one of the 4 basic education schools owned and administered by the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians in the Philippines. It started its operation in June school year 1973-74 with only a pre-school department. It was handled by the Sisters of St. Joseph Community, Canlubang whose Superior was Sr. Anna Maria Mattiussi. The two bungalows near the Don Bosco Seminary served as the classrooms for the morning and afternoon sessions. Sr. Margarita Gapuz was directly in-charge of running the pre-school. The first teachers were the postulants who are now FMAs: Sr. Corazon Beboso (Nursery), Sr. Carmelita Meman (Kinder), and Sr. Linda Villanueva (Prep). The late Sr. Orsolina Serra was also the assistant of the children and in-charge of the canteen. Sr. Nora Hernandez and Sr. Estellita Dasmariñas helped out in the co-curricular activities. The Educating Community was already in its germinal stage with the collaboration and support of the parents of Canlubang and Calamba.

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In 1974, the pre-school was transferred to St. Mary Mazzarello Novitiate. Sr. Margarita Gapuz continued to be its principal up to March 1976.

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The edifice that is to be the Mary Help of Christians College was finally built and was inaugurated on May 28, 1979. The Superior of the new community, Sr. Anita Miranda, was still in Rome then and was welcomed on June 16, 1979. The community was composed of eight Sisters and 36 aspirants and postulants. The school opened in June with 567 students from preschool to Grade 5. Sr. Nora Hernandez was the principal of the school.  The school had its first mass on June 22, on the solemn feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. On June 24 of the same year, Mother Franca Dardanello and Sr. Anita Miranda went to the bishop, Msgr. Pedro Bantigue to ask permission for the community to have its own chapel to house the Blessed Sacrament.

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The new school building, though not yet completed, was already in operation since 1976. Sr. Nora continued to be the school principal.  The teachers during these periods were Sr. Annie Saligumba, Sr. Estrella Castalone, Sr. Jesusa Acevedo and Sr. Celia Tacujan, our former Provincial Superior.

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The community, aside from taking on the task of basic elementary education, is also a House of formation. It is where young temporary professed Sisters and young people in formation get a first-hand experience of our apostolic work.   In the beginning, there were no lay teachers in the school. The Sisters and our formands were the ones who handled all the activities and services of the school since there were no salaries to worry about; the institution was able to provide quality education while charging its students a very low tuition fee.

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March 20, 1980 was a very memorable date for the Institution for it saw the first batch of graduates of the Elementary Department.  On June 23, 1981, it received the Certificate of Recognition No. 005 series 1981 for the whole Elementary Course.

 

In 1984, the school Directress, Sr. Felicidad Boado, also a Provincial Superior emeritus, started a series of evening meetings with the parents to sensitize them about their role in the Educating Community.  And so the Educating Community came into being with parents who were not only willing but were enthusiastic to be involved in the education and the Christian formation of their children.

The school year 1988-1989 has been a very significant academic year in the history of MHCS as it marked the opening of its doors to the first batch of high school girls.  A new three-storey building was annexed to the old elementary building, the construction of which was completed in April of 1988.  On February 26, 1991, the school received the Government Recognition No. 003 series of 1991 for a complete Secondary Course.  In the school year 1994-1995, the school ranked 40 among the top 250 schools in the country in the National Secondary Aptitude Test (NSAT).

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Following are the distinctions garnered by some of our students from various competitions at the Regional, National and International levels:

• during the SY 2005 – 2006

1. In the District Competition sponsored by the Mathematics Teacher’s Association of the Philippines (MTAP), the team to which our student – Julian Aseneta – belonged, won 2nd place.

2. In the National Competition sponsored by the Mathematics Trainors’ Guild, held at the Ilo-ilo Grand Hotel, Rei Cid Ual (a grade 6 pupil), brought home these awards:

   1. an official qualifier to the summer Olympiad Training Program (International level)

   2. he was chosen as a member of the Philippine Team who will then be competing in the Indonesian Elementary Math International Contest. From this International competition, Rei Cid came home with these distinctions:

   3. merit award (individual level)

   4. 3rd place (team level, problem-solving event)

   5. 2nd place (team level, Puzzle-solving event)

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In the SY 2006-2007, the school took pride in its students who brought home the following awards:

1. Gold distinction in the Mathematics Olympiad for Elementary and Middle Schools

2. Distinction award in the Canadian Mathematics Contest held at St. Jude Catholic School in Manila.

3. Distinction award in the Australian Math Contest in which our student representatives landed in the top 15% of takers in the Region

4. Our student-representatives garnered the 1st and 2nd places in the following competitions:

   • 1st International Math and Science Quiz Bee held at the St. John Colleges in Calamba City, Laguna

   • 2006 Metrobank – MTAP - DepED Math Challenge at the Jose Rizal Memorial School, in  both division and regional levels

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• In February of 2008, our students brought home 1st and 2nd places in the different categories, having competed in the Metrobank-DepEd Math Challenge; division level.

 

At the 4th International Mathematics Contest held in Singapore in July of 2008, Rei Cid Ual brought honor to the School by bagging the Bronze Medal. The team to which Rei Cid belonged placed 5th out of 1,737 teams and obtained the highest score among the competing Philippine teams.

1. The FMA Province’s golden Jubilee celebration opened on November 28, 2005 in Holy Trinity Academy, Balic Balic, Sampaloc, Manila, which was the 1st FMA House in Luzon. It was presided by His Eminence Bishop Gaudencio Rosales, now a Cardinal and Archbishop of Manila.

 

The year-long jubilee celebration of the Institutes 50 years of presence in the       Philippines was concluded at the Philippine International Convention Center, Manila, on November 5, 2005 with the theme: FMA-All Gold, All Gift, All Grace. The whole program showed the humble beginnings of the Salesian Sisters from Mornese, Italy to the Philippine Province, their gift of vocations, and fidelity to the charism through the apostolates, mission and work.

1. On April 5, 2005 the Aspirantate, which the community of MHCS had lodged since 1979, was transferred to the Novitiate.

2. MHCS in Canlubang, the very first among FMA schools to apply for Accreditation to the (Philippine Association of Accrediting Schools, Colleges and Universities) had the first PAASCU pre-accreditation visit on February 26-27, 2004. After 3 months, the school received the approval of its application for PAASCU Accreditation Level I. On August 21-22, 2006 the PAASCU accreditors came for assessment and the school was granted PAASCU Accreditation Level II.

3. In the school year 2006-2007, the graduating class took the National Career Assessment Exam (NCAE); they ranked 2nd among the 32 Private Schools, Division of Calamba.

4. In the school year 2007-2008 the graduating class ranked 1st in NCAE among the 32 Private Schools, Division of Calamba.

5. The 2008-2009 graduating class ranked 2nd in NCAE during the School year 2009-2010 the sophomores ranked 1st in the National Aptitude Test given by the Department of Education among the 36 Private Schools in the Division of Calamba. The same year, we also garnered the first and second places of the Computer Competition held in the National Capital Region.

6. The 2010 and 2011 batches of graduating class ranked 1st in NCAE and the batches of sophomores ranked 1st in the National Aptitude Test for 2 consecutive years given by the Department of Education among the 36 Private Schools in the Division of Calamba City. Last February 2011, we also garnered 1st among the 13 regions in the ICT National Competition held in Manila.

 

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