Institutional and Community History

St. Mary’s Academy of Guagua, Inc. was established in 1908 as Colegio del Sagrado Corazon de Jesus in Plaza Guagua, the area where the Jollibee now stands. The lot and the two-storey building were donated to the RVM Sisters by Doña Carmen Macam Lim, a rich philanthropist, because of her desire to provide first class education to girls. The school offered Kindergarten up to Grade Six: Grades 1, 2 and 3 were co-educational while Grades 4,5 and 6 were exclusively for girls. The first directress was Sr. Ma. Victoria Henson, RVM, first superior was Sr. Ma. Josefa Avendano, RVM and the first principal was Ms. Josefa Regino. The school produced her first batch of high school graduates in 1933. There were only five, namely: Aurora Francisco, Purificacion Lagman, Sixta Francisco, Beatriz Paredes and Beatriz Romero. At the outbreak of World War II in 1941, the Sisters were recalled to Manila. The Americans used the school as a hospital but the constant bombing of the Japanese did not spare the building. After liberation, Mo. Emilia Romero, RVM (Vicar General) and some alumnae petitioned that the school be re-opened to then Superior General Mo. Catalina Dychitan, RVM in 1955. The Sisters requested the parish priest of Guagua Catholic Church (Immaculate Conception now) to allow them to use the “convento” (now the Rufino Cardinal Santos Building). In 1956, the school was re-opened and renamed Sacred Heart Academy. It had 3 storeys and offered kindergarten and a six-year elementary course. Both boys and girls were admitted. The elementary course was duly recognized by the government on June 11, 1956. The first year high school was re-opened in June, 1957 and the whole secondary course was duly given recognition by the government on June 13, 1960. It was exclusively for girls. Increase in population paved the way of adding and improving facilities. In 1958, the RVM Congregation bought a lot and a two –storey residential house owned by Mr. Martin Gonzales in San Roque. The house became the Sisters’ convent and the adjacent lot became the site of the High School Building.  A two-storey High School Building was constructed in 1960 and named Sacred Heart Building. The administrative offices were housed on the first floor and the chapel was on the second floor. Upon completion of the building, an imposing statue of the Sacred Heart was constructed in front of the building through the generosity of the alumnae. Other improvements followed: the construction of the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes by the members of the Sodality of Our Lady (1962-1963); the construction of the campus gate, the improvement of the garden and the installation of the bust of Doña Carmen Macam Lim in front of the Sisters’ residence by the Alumnae of 1966-1968.

A fire of strange origin reduced the Grade School Building at the Church site into ashes on December 26, 1969. This unfortunate event gave way to the construction of a two-storey wooden elementary building at a lot formerly owned by the Cancios behind Sacred Heart Building in 1970–1971. The elementary graders were gradually transferred to San Roque Campus in 1971. The school library and the guidance office were constructed on the second floor of the canteen in 1972 to further improve the services to the students. In the years that followed, other facilities were added or renovated to answer actual needs, like the kiosk and the covered walk in 1973- 1974, the Home Economics (H.E.) department and the medical dental clinic in 1984–1985, a playground for the grade school in 1985–1986 with the support of the Family Council and the Alumni. A three-storey concrete building was constructed in 1988-1989 to house ten (10) classrooms, the High School Faculty Room, the Library, the Clinic, the Guidance office and the Mother Ignacia Club (MIC) office. The building was named Mother Ignacia Building. Computer classes were offered in 1989-1990 to allow the students to be abreast with the latest technology in education. The eruption of Mt. Pinatubo on June 14, 1991 caused so much havoc to Guagua and its neighboring municipalities. Despite the situation that the school was in, St. Mary’s Academy still opened its door to the victims. The school became an evacuation center and a center for relief goods. Many schools and NGOs from NCR recoursed their donations through the school. An Aeta tribe (Liplip) was also adopted by SMAG. Houses and classes were given to them. The program had to be given up later due to lack of funds and distance. The Grade School Building was found to be infested by termites in 1994. The school had to borrow money from the congregation to build a new four–storey concrete building. The building was blessed by Most Rev. Archbishop Paciano Aniceto, D.D. on February 11, 1995. The building was named Our Lady of the Assumption Building. It had twenty (20) classrooms, 2 Science Laboratories, H.E. Room, AVR, HS Faculty Room, Canteen, Comfort Rooms and satellite offices. The school marked a milestone in SY 1996–1997 by accepting boys in the first and second year high school department. SY 1998-1999 saw the first high school graduation of boys. Jubilee Year 2000 marked another significant move of the school. Sacred Heart Academy was renamed St. Mary’s Academy on June 16, 2000 in consonance with the Ignacian bonding of the R.V.M. Schools. Computerization of the Cashier and Registrar’s Offices’ operation, repainting of the Our Lady of the Assumption and Mother Ignacia Buildings and installation of sliding doors of the HS classrooms took place, too, in 2000. The Year 2002 opened doors for the revision of the Administrative, Faculty, Service Unit Personnel Handbook and Student Handbook, installation of the air-conditioning units in the faculty rooms, provision of steel lockers for each pupil/student and computerization of the grading system.

Another significant event in 2002 was the launching of Mo. Ignacia Movement (MIM) for the cause of the Beatification of Venerable Ignacia del Espiritu Santo at the Immaculate Conception Parish Church, Guagua, Pampanga on October 19, 2002. In answer to the growing population and the needed facilities, a 4-strorey building was constructed at the lot bought from the Cancio Family. It was blessed on June 6, 2003 and named Our Lady of the Beaterio Building. It houses the different administrative offices, Speech, Computer and TLE Laboratories, Library, AVR, Chapel, Guidance Center, Medical–Dental Clinic, Music Department with cubicles for piano, organ, violin, guitar, voice lesson, drum and ballet studio at the third floor and the Auditorium and Archives in the fourth floor. True to her commitment to continue improving instruction and upgrading services and facilities, SMAG ventured into institutional self-survey for accreditation. The High School Department had her Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools Colleges and Universities (PAASCU) Preliminary Visit on February 10–11, 2003. PAASCU granted SMAG a Candidate Status on May 20, 2003. The PAASCU Formal Visit took place on November 22-23, 2004 for the High School Department. The Grade School Department had her PAASCU Preliminary Visit on January 24 – 25, 2005. SMAG passed the standards of PAASCU and was granted Level I Accredited Status on May 30, 2005 making her the only PAASCU Accredited school in the West Central District of Pampanga. The school also applied for the FAPE-DepEd ESC Program in SY. 2005–2006. Being a PAASCU Accredited School, FAPE readily granted SMAG a certification and subsidy to fifty (50) poor but deserving first year high school students. This annual financial assistance from the government is given until the completion of secondary course. School year 2007–2008 has SMAG busy for 3 big events: PAASCU Resurvey Visit of the High School Department on January 17–18, 2008, PAASCU Formal Visit of the Grade School Department on January 21–22, 2008, and the Centennial Celebration on February 12–18, 2008. Despite all constraints, all efforts paid off. The High School Department was granted Level II Re-Accredited Status and given five years (2013) while the Grade School was granted Level I Accredited Status (2011). The Centennial Celebration’s Reminiscing, Revitalizing and Rebuilding was a success with the hope and dream that SMAG will continue to soar the greater heights in the next one hundred years in Faith, Excellence, and Service. SMAG would really like to continue making a big difference not only in Guagua or in Pampanga but in the Philippine Church and Society…in the world. True to its thrust to provide quality Catholic Education and services as PAASCU Accredited school, St. Mary’s Academy of Guagua, Inc. embarked into upgrading its facilities through the construction of the covered court in 2010. This serves not just a big canopy for students’ shield but also a venue for Physical Education classes, school activities, and other purposes. With the government’s goal to provide financial assistance to pupils from public schools, additional ESC slots were granted to SMAG resulting to a breakthrough that all grade 7 students were grantees of the program in SY. 2011-2012. That same year, SMAG has ventured into another leap for PAASCU Accreditation. This time, the school piloted and tested its grounds in the Basic Education Program. Concerted efforts exhausted by the entire school community to work for its success has been achieved. The school was granted another five (5) years (S.Y. 2013-2018). Re-accreditation for Basic Education–Level II. To further intensify the school’s Instructional Program, upgrading and improvement of facilities was the primary concern of the administration. More so, new facilities like TLE and Science Laboratories, Administrative Offices and Faculty Rooms were built with additional equipment to improve the teaching learning process. In 2013-2014, the school adopted the K to 12 Program. School Year 2016-2017 was indeed another milestone for the school as it opened its doors for the implementation of the Senior High School Program and the following year marked the first batch of Senior High School graduation. There were one hundred fifty (150) graduates (61 for ABM [Accountancy and Business Management] and 89 for STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics] who completed the academic requirements prescribed by the Department of Education. These pioneers set the record in the history of the Philippine educational reform to have finished the 12-year Basic Education under the Academic Track. In the succeeding school year, SMAG has embarked into an interface of renovations and innovations to provide a more conducive learning environment for the 21st century Marian learners. The school underwent renovations like repainting of classrooms, installation of additional CCTV cameras in strategic places, canopy along hallways, food kiosks, mess tables at the covered court, hanging ornamental/medicinal plants in passages, newly-structured comfort rooms, Library and Speech Laboratory, and properly-labeled trash bins in all classrooms to intensify the school’s Waste Management Program. To foster innovative teaching and effective learning, SMAG embraced an EdTech Program through Aralinks to bridge the school where the 21st century learners are in right now – a combination of pedagogy and technology in the Next Generation School (NGS). The use of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) for Gate Keeping and Cashless Canteen was also adopted.  Robotics classes were offered to meet the demands of computer technology.