San Jose High School 4.62

A mission school established by Belgian CICM missionaries. It is was originally composed of students transferred from SLU Laboratory High School who reside in La Trinidad and nearby areas. It is now under the administration of the Diocese of Baguio Schools. Still, under the San Jose Parish.

HISTORY:
In 1960, Rev. Fr. John Wageners, C.I.C.M. was appointed the parish priest of La Trinidad Mission. At that time, there was no Catholic school yet in the parish. To help in the evangelization of the people, Fr. John thought of putting up one. He contacted Brother Peter Verhaegh C.I.C.M., who immediately did the plan and the construction of the building which started on March 21, 1964.

After four months, the eastern side of the planned four storey building was completed. While construction was going on, on August 3, 1964, San Jose High School was formally opened with 101 students, 60 freshmen, 34 girls and 26 boys; 41 sophomores, 22 girls and 19 boys. The first groups of second years were all transferees, mostly from private schools in Baguio City. When the school building was finally finished, it had 14 classrooms, a library, a laboratory, offices, a gymnasium, a stage, social halls, vocational rooms, and some storerooms.

In 1967, 41 students composed of 17 boys and 24 girls marked the history of San Jose High School as the first group of graduate.

Ten years later, the population tripled. Because of this, some offices were converted into classrooms since the school building can no longer be expanded due to the very limited area.

During the school year 1988-1989, the student population had reached over a thousand. Rev.Fr. Brigido Galasgas, D.D., then the school director, has to remedy the addition of classrooms by turning the social halls and vocational rooms into classrooms into classrooms in order to accommodate the 20 section students. In spite of this move, there were still need for more classrooms and offices, so Fr. Galasgas put up another building on the only available space behind the Father’s Rectory.

School year 1989-1990 was the twenty-fifth year of the institution. During the Silver Jubilee of San Jose High School, 1,037 was the total number of enrollees. This school year was also the opening of San Jose Preparatory School.

July 16, 1990 was a tragic point in the history of San Jose High School when the killer earthquake damaged the main school building beyond repair. The building had to be demolished, but not its committed zeal for service in Christian Education. Thus, temporary classrooms were constructed on the playground and in the open gymnasium to keep up with the regular classes. The construction of the new school building started in 1991 which was completed in 1994.

Even if the school building and the gym is already finished, the administrators continue to give the school a new face lift. Undergoing constructions are: a new building to house laboratories and audio-visual room, bookstore within the SIHM convent, and the parish-initiated construction of a new church.