Saint Stephen's High School

St. Stephen's High School
Address
St. Stephen's High School

Location within Metro Manila

1267 Guillermo Masangkay St., Santa Cruz, Manila
Philippines
Coordinates 14°36′30″N 120°58′41″E / 14.6084°N 120.9780°ECoordinates: 14°36′30″N 120°58′41″E / 14.6084°N 120.9780°E
Information
Religious affiliation(s) Christian
Established 1917
Chaplain Rev. Dr. Patrick Tanhuanco
Medium of language English, Filipino, Chinese
Campus size 1 hectare
School colour(s) Violet and White            
Accreditation Level III (Highest Level) Accreditation Status as certified by the FAAP (Federation of Accrediting Agencies of the Philippines) through the ACSCU-AAI
Affiliation Association of Chinese-Filipino Schools in the Philippines
Association of Christian Schools International
Association of Christian Schools, Colleges and Universities - Accrediting Agency Inc
Website http://www.sshs.edu.ph

St. Stephen's High School, an Episcopalian school, is situated in the Binondo district of Manila. It is considered as the first Chinese school established in Luzon.[1] The school offers courses of study from Pre-Nursery to Grade 12.

Originally known as St. Stephen's Girl's School, it was founded on July 22, 1917 by St. Stephen's Mission composed of the Rector and the Chinese members of the church. Intended for girls, it was known as Seng Kong Hoe in the Chinese community and had nineteen enrollees. The first class was held at a church property along Reina Regente Street.

In 1921, the school adopted the lavender and white colors as the school uniform of girls. By 1925, the Elementary Department was established. Through the efforts of Bishop Mosher, Rev. Hobart Studley and Mr. S.C. Choy, a property in Calle Magdalena (now Masangkay Street) had been bought in 1928. In 1939, the school finally moved to Calle Magdalena from its original location in Reina Regente Street.

A mission home and a 15-room building were constructed, with a renovated row of dormitory units. In 1941, the school put up a benefit program at the Rizal Stadium to raise more funds to help cover the cost of new construction. A new building on the La Torre side was completed in December 1941 which housed a library, dormitory and new classrooms.

But on December 8, 1941, the school operations had to stop during the Japanese occupation in the Philippines. The Japanese military sealed off the school compound and the mission house was turned over to a Japanese doctor-director of St. Luke's Hospital. The occupants were forced to move out and the rooms were used for Japanese civilian patients.

American and British school staff became prisoners of war and were confined at the University of Santo Tomas. The new building, which was not yet used was demolished and its new materials and equipment taken. Chinese guerilla units later took the mission house and used it as headquarters during the liberation from Japanese occupation.

The school reopened in December 1945 after the war under the direction of Mrs. Huang Ong Bi Gim. St. Stephen's Girls' School offered its service to those unschooled for five years as contribution to the community and nation-building. Mrs. Nancy L. Yao became the principal in 1946 and Ms. Constance Bolderston was the directress.

Rebuilding of the school followed and it was officially renamed St. Stephen's High School. In 1963, a new five-storey high school building was completed. By 1969, an additional building with three storeys was built for elementary students. However, the old Mosher Hall building on the high school campus was demolished in 1980. A five-storey annex building replaced it and was completed in 1982.

Old elementary school buildings were replaced by two new buildings, which were constructed in 1991 and 1994 respectively.

At present, the school is recognized by the Philippine Government as a Chinese-Filipino School offering English, Filipino and Chinese subjects in the Preschool, Elementary and High School Departments. The school is an accredited school of Association of Christian Schools, Colleges and Universities (ACSCU-AAI).

Aside from the classrooms, the school has modern facilities like The Auditorium, Stephenian Hall (a multi-purpose hall), Nancy L. Yao Library, Electronic Research Center, Speech Laboratory, Wai Ling Tan Audio-Visual Center, Guidance and Counseling Center, Science Laboratories, Journalism Room, Typing Room, Home Economics Room, Clinic, Scout Center, 4 Computer Laboratories, Music Room, Practical Arts Room, the CSG Gymnasium, Indoor and Outdoor Playground, and the Jimmy Go Swimming Pool.

The school has varsity teams in swimming, track and field, volleyball, table tennis and basketball. The school hosted the 37th Season of the Women's National Collegiate Athletic Association (WNCAA) with the theme "Victory Beyond Competition ."

The school is a venue for inter-school activities and competitions. The Stephenian Math Society hosts the Lord of the Math Inter-school Competition annually at the Stephenian Hall. The school has served as host school for training sessions held by the Mathematics Trainers' Guild, or MTG, for several years already.

The school celebrated its historic 90th founding anniversary on July 22, 2007 with the theme "God's Glory with Exceeding Joy!"  In celebration, the school held the 1st Inter-school Extemporaneous Speech Competition, the 1st Earth Science Quiz, and three concerts: namely, a concert in cooperation with the Biblical Seminary of the Philippines entitled "An Evening of Praise," featuring the Heavenly Melody Singers from Taiwan; a Thanksgiving concert entitled "Images of Christ" in November 2007, directed by New York-based conductor Celia Yu Ong and famed director Chinggoy Alonso; and the Thanksgiving marimba concert, featuring alumnus Johnny Yu, Prof. Raul Sunico of the UST Conservatory of Music.

Gallery

References

  1. ↑ "Our History". St. Stephen's High School.
Preceded by
Wisdom School (Manila)
January 1917		 Oldest Chinese School in the Philippines
Sixth
July 22, 1917 		Succeeded by
Philippine Scholastic Academy
(as Annex of Anglo-Chinese School)
August 7, 1917