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Saint Mary’s School of Sagada
Principal’s Bulletin, 2011-2012 Series # 13
January 12, 2012
Dear Parents, Students, Alumni, and Friends:
Happy New Year to everybody!
The three-week vacation was refreshing as it provided opportunity to both the students and the teachers to unwind with family and friends and at the same time prepare to face the year 2012 with enthusiasm and vigor.
We resumed classes last Monday (January 9). Even with our long break I observed that many of our students passed their major requirements on the first school day of the year. I appreciate that majority of the students spent time with their papers earlier so they can focus on preparing themselves for the exams next week.
We announced earlier that all students should report to school last Monday as classes in other schools commenced last January 3. There is no reason for the students to be delayed in traveling back to Sagada. However, it is disheartening to note there were some who did not attend classes on the first school day of 2012. Some are the same students who did it when we resumed classes after the semester break. Parents, please take note that we will not give make-up activities for the assessments missed on January 9 unless the student submits a medical certificate that indicates that he/she had been confined on that day. Further, they have to study at the library on Saturday.
ANNOUNCEMENT
3rd Quarter PTA Meeting: The third quarter PTA meeting is scheduled on Saturday (January 14) from 10 AM to 12 noon at the school auditorium. Parents please attend the meeting as we will discuss the 3rd – 4th quarter school calendar, proposal for tuition fee increase for next school year, and centennial homecoming among others. While we will be having our meeting at the auditorium, the masons (Bontoc Lodge No. 140 and Bessang Pass Lodge 314) will have their joint public installation at the gym.
Parent-Principal-Student Conferences: Starting next week, we will have the principal’s conference with the students and parents so that we will talk about the career preferences of our children. I sent the notices for those scheduled next week. I hope to meet all students and their parents by the first week of March.
3rd Quarter Examinations: The third quarter exams will be on January 19 (Thursday) and 20 (Friday). It was originally scheduled on January 16-17. However, I understand that the students need more time to prepare as we just came back from vacation.
Students, please be reminded that you have to wear your ID during the exams. The schedule of the third quarter exams is as follows:
January 16-18 (Monday-Wednesday) Music, PE, Art, Computer, Values Ed
January 19 (Thursday) Elective, Science, Social Studies
January 20 (Friday) Math, Filipino, English
Parents, please take time to visit the business office regarding the fees of your children.
Moratorium on Activities: In preparation to the examinations there will be a moratorium on all extra-curricular activities starting on Friday, January 13, until the last exam on January 20.
The computer lab and the library will be open on Saturday for the students who want to work on their requirements.
PAST EVENTS
Service Learning: The whole student body including the faculty and staff members went on service learning last December 11-13, 2011. The service learning is an annual activity of the school. It has three components: community service, academic requirements, and interaction with the community. The host community identifies the work to be done and then the teachers design an academic requirement based on the identified work and culture of the host community. Community interaction is important to orient our students to the culture of the host community. For this school year, the freshmen went to Suyo, Sagada; the sophomores went to Aguid, Sagada and then to Datacan rainforest; the juniors went to Guinzadan, Bauko, and the seniors went to Guinaang, Bontoc. The fifth year students joined the different year levels. The parents paid for the food of the students which is P60.00 per meal while the school shouldered transportation and chaperone costs.
I’d like to acknowledge the teachers who were assigned to the different groups. My appreciation also goes to Kym Ledesma, Junia Tulipa, and Carol Ambucay who stayed here in school to cater to parents and other individuals who may have transactions with the school. I appreciate Racquel Killy, the overall coordinator of the service learning. While she handled the kinder classes, she updated the chaperones on the activities of the different groups.
Kinder Christmas Party: The Christmas Party of our kindergarten children was held last December 15 (Thursday) at SMV Church. The children enthusiastically played with their parents. The parents were touched when the kids sang Christmas carols with all their childish might and innocent rendition. Everybody feasted on the food which were brought by the parents and shared with all who were present. Santa Claus (Paul Kimmot) distributed the gifts to the children courtesy of the parents and Mrs. Nellie Pit-og,
Christmas Party/Mountain Night/Foundation Day: SMS celebrated the Cordillera Day, Christmas Party and its 99th Foundation Day last December 16 (Friday). It started with a mass at SMV followed by a quiz bee on SMS History, Sagada and the Cordillera at the school quadrangle. The high school students enjoyed playing indigenous games such as sanggol and sulti. In the afternoon, the different dap-ays demonstrated their ability in playing the gongs, dancing our native dances through their cultural presentations based on the theme given to them. Matoba presented the ob-obbo spirit. Malingeb portrayed the life cycle of the Igorots. Losban presented Begnas and Bilig showed the agricultural cycle in our place. Dap-ay Malingeb and Matoba won in the cultural presentation competition so they were asked to present again in the evening.
Due to heavy rains and the threat of the landfall of a typhoon, I have to cancel the traditional torch parade and the cultural presentation of the kinder which were scheduled in the early evening. We still proceeded with the lighting of the Christmas tree and the bonfire, pot luck dinner per dap-ay, the singing of the “toma” song and the cultural presentations of the winning dap-ay and the parents in the evening.
Provincial Meet: We sent students to the Provincial Meet which was held last month at Tadian. Some of our students participated in volleyball, basketball, chess, and table tennis. The Sagada basketball team won 2nd after losing their last game to Tadian 1. The volleyball boys also placed 2nd while the soccer team placed third. Lynand Layag and Frenzon Cosme participated in table tennis and Maegonne Degay in chess. They may not have landed in the top but I believe they learned a lot during their games. My thanks to Daniel Ambasing, Susan Ngagan, Leo Carlin, Bernadette Dekdeken and Roderick Pecdasen for chaperoning them. I had the opportunity to join and chat with the elementary principals and other teachers of Sagada District who volunteered to cook for the athletes.
Principal’s Meeting: The principals of ABS-CBN adopted schools in the Cordillera had a meeting last Saturday, January 7, with Sir Fau, the senior education consultant of ABS-CBN, at All Saints’ Mission Elementary School. We have talked about the needs of the schools, training of teachers and administrators, student-centered instruction, and current issues in the field of education.
All the ABS-CBN adopted schools were represented. These are Saint Mary’s School, All Saints’ Mission Elementary School, Guinaang National High School, Namatec Elementary School, Namatec National High School and St. Paul’s Academy of Balbalasang.
Until next bulletin,
Nemia N. Lite
Acting Principal
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