St. Louis De Marillac College of Sorsogon
THE history of Colegio de la Milagrosa, now St. Louise de Marillac College of Sorsogon (SLMCS) dates back to 1937 when Rev. Francisco Reyes, former Bishop of Nueva Caceres and parish priest of Sorsogon, took cognizant of the absence of Catholic schools in the province. With his burning zeal for service, he sought the assistance of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, who at that time were managing Colegio de Sta. Isabel, now Universidad de Sta. Isabel, Naga City. Sr. Carmen Reta, Vice-Visitatrix of the Daughters of Charity in the Philippines, responded to the plea of the Bishop and laid the preliminaries.
On June 30, 1937, four sisters from Colegio de Sta. Isabel: Sisters Aurea Muñoz, Concepcion Calinog, Silvina Lopez, and Estanislaa Daradal started their work on youth formation, sowing the first seeds of Catholic education in the southern portion of Sorsogon. A seven-room school building housed the first 22 pupils.
School Years 1945-1947 marked the opening of a complete elementary and general secondary programs, both of which continued even during the war. By that time, English was dropped in favor of Nippongo, but Religion remained the core of curriculum. After the war, the Sisters continued the gigantic task of re-building the educational mission. Enrolment increased and the demand for higher education came as a challenge. In 1949-1950, the first two-year Junior Normal Collegiate course opened. Next came the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science in Education in 1955; Collegiate Normal Course in 1960; Associate in Commercial Science in 1961; and Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education in 1963.
The decades of the 70’s and 80’s were characterized by more innovations. In 1974, the high school department became co-education. In 1980, Bachelor of Science in Commerce was offered. The kindergarten program opened in 1982. In 1986, the College underwent Congregational Evaluation Visit for institutional upgrading; and in 1988 the graduate program received government recognition to answer the need of various stakeholders to upgrade themselves through higher studies. Pursuing its mandate for quality education, the Basic Education Department in 1993 submitted for accreditation by inviting the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU). After a successful self-survey and first visit from PAASCU in 1993, the Department was granted a Level II accreditation in 1997, becoming the first PAASCU accredited school in the Province of Sorsogon, at par with other prestigious accredited schools in the Philippines. Driven by the challenge of quality, excellence and relevance, the higher education department underwent the preliminary PAASCU visit in 1999 for the following programs: Liberal Arts, Teacher Education and Commerce Education, which were granted a Level II accreditation in 2003.
Similar re-accreditation status was given to the basic education department, as well as the recognition of the College as a service provider of the DepEd project Alternative Learning System that caters to out-of-school youths and adults. In 2001, the Daughters of Charity St. Louise de Marillac Educational System (SLMES) piloted an alternative shared leadership-governance called Servant Leadership Team in the management and supervision of schools. The schools in the Albay-Sorsogon areas were clustered with SLMCS as the lead school. The cluster includes: SLMCS-Gubat; SLMS-Bulan; SLMS-Tabaco and SLMALC-Libon. The cluster is due for re-valuation 1n 2008. The gains earned by St. Louise de Marillac College of Sorsogon for the past 71 years bear witness to its fidelity to the charism values of St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac as a Vincentian Catholic school. With its humble beginnings come a tangible contribution of the Company of the Daughters of Charity to the province of Sorsogon
On June 30, 1937, four sisters from Colegio de Sta. Isabel: Sisters Aurea Muñoz, Concepcion Calinog, Silvina Lopez, and Estanislaa Daradal started their work on youth formation, sowing the first seeds of Catholic education in the southern portion of Sorsogon. A seven-room school building housed the first 22 pupils.
School Years 1945-1947 marked the opening of a complete elementary and general secondary programs, both of which continued even during the war. By that time, English was dropped in favor of Nippongo, but Religion remained the core of curriculum. After the war, the Sisters continued the gigantic task of re-building the educational mission. Enrolment increased and the demand for higher education came as a challenge. In 1949-1950, the first two-year Junior Normal Collegiate course opened. Next came the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science in Education in 1955; Collegiate Normal Course in 1960; Associate in Commercial Science in 1961; and Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education in 1963.
The decades of the 70’s and 80’s were characterized by more innovations. In 1974, the high school department became co-education. In 1980, Bachelor of Science in Commerce was offered. The kindergarten program opened in 1982. In 1986, the College underwent Congregational Evaluation Visit for institutional upgrading; and in 1988 the graduate program received government recognition to answer the need of various stakeholders to upgrade themselves through higher studies. Pursuing its mandate for quality education, the Basic Education Department in 1993 submitted for accreditation by inviting the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU). After a successful self-survey and first visit from PAASCU in 1993, the Department was granted a Level II accreditation in 1997, becoming the first PAASCU accredited school in the Province of Sorsogon, at par with other prestigious accredited schools in the Philippines. Driven by the challenge of quality, excellence and relevance, the higher education department underwent the preliminary PAASCU visit in 1999 for the following programs: Liberal Arts, Teacher Education and Commerce Education, which were granted a Level II accreditation in 2003.
Similar re-accreditation status was given to the basic education department, as well as the recognition of the College as a service provider of the DepEd project Alternative Learning System that caters to out-of-school youths and adults. In 2001, the Daughters of Charity St. Louise de Marillac Educational System (SLMES) piloted an alternative shared leadership-governance called Servant Leadership Team in the management and supervision of schools. The schools in the Albay-Sorsogon areas were clustered with SLMCS as the lead school. The cluster includes: SLMCS-Gubat; SLMS-Bulan; SLMS-Tabaco and SLMALC-Libon. The cluster is due for re-valuation 1n 2008. The gains earned by St. Louise de Marillac College of Sorsogon for the past 71 years bear witness to its fidelity to the charism values of St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac as a Vincentian Catholic school. With its humble beginnings come a tangible contribution of the Company of the Daughters of Charity to the province of Sorsogon