ST. AGNES' ACADEMY

4500 Rizal Street, Legazpi City, Philippines  (052) 480-1682

History of St. Agnes' Academy

          The year 1912 saw the great need for a Catholic School in Albay. Rev Father Juan J. Calleja the parish priest then, with the help of Rev. Msgr. J.B. MacGinley, Bishop of the Diocese of Nueva Caceres, presented an appeal before the Apostolic Delegate Msgr. Etheus, for some Missionary Benedictine Sisters to start the apostolate of Christian education among the youth of Albay.

          In response to the call, Sisters Ferdinanda, Alexia, and Edilburgis came to Legazpi City on May 30, 1912 and started formal primary classes on July 1, 1912 with 47 enrollees in the Parish’s old parochial convent.  Thus, was born St. Agnes’ Academy, the oldest Catholic school in Albay, originally named as Academia de Sta. Ines.

          The Academy grew despite the forces that challenged her existence - - - strong typhoons that destroyed the physical structure of the school, the eruption of Mt. Mayon Volcano in 1928 and the World War II claimed the lives of three pioneering Benedictine Sisters - - - Mother Clodesindis, Sister Edilburgis and Sis. Gertrude, and oblate.

          Amidst trials and difficulties, SAA’s spirit became stronger and indomitable courage pulled her through.  The Seeming setbacks spawned greater strength the accelerate growth.  A free school was opened for the poor where 350 children were enrolled.  Vocational courses were incorporated with academics in the early 1940’s.  Not to be overlooked was the Music Department which started in 1912.  Small though it was, it supported the school during the early years after the war.

          From the debris of typhoons and from the ashes of eruption and war rose a formidable institution.  The Sister’s determination to educate the young Bicolanos survived the turbulent years.  The Agnesians discovered beauty and strength not in buildings, but in the powers waiting to be unleashed from within them.  This was the age of school competitions and recognition of St. Agnes’ Academy as a school that would not settle for anything short of excellence.  On January 17, 1974, SAA’s Grade School was granted accreditation by the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU), the first in Bicol and fifth in the country to be accredited.  In March 1983, the High School was also accredited, the second school to be accredited in Legazpi City. On that same year, the High School became co-educational, primarily, to provide a more integrated education to the young.

          The gradual increase in enrollment in the High School necessitated re-arrangement and improvement of existing facilities.  The school year 1989 brought the Sisters’ quarters to a new place.  In summer of 1990 the former Sisters’ convent was renovated to give way to five additional classrooms and service room - - - sewing room, typing room, home arts room and the clinic.  Likewise, the canteen was enlarged to accommodate its growing population.

          More changes in the school’s physical facilities were effected in the years following.  The gymnasium was completed in 1994, the covered walk from the gate to the Grade School, in 1996.  In January 1997, the Sisters found themselves moving again.  A new convent was built near the newly enlarged canteen.  The house which the sisters vacated became the office of the Guidance department.  Additional classrooms were made available with the building of a New Audio Visual Room, designed to house more and better equipment.  On January 2000, was blessed another building which houses the Science Laboratories, a Computer Room and Music Room.  This building is a donation from Atty. Loida Nicolas Lewis, an alumna and from a few High school graduates of class 1959.  In May, 2003, another new building was completed for the Grade School department with additional four classrooms, and alumni room.

          Keeping pace with the changes of modern society, SAA found it necessary to become involved in a wider program of activities.  More and more the school tried to reach out to the poor through its socio-pastoral apostolate to give maximum service to its students and to the larger community as a whole.  The Agnesian family – students, parents, faculty, administration, non-teaching staff involve themselves in many different activities.  Ecological drives, medical and dental missions, catechetical instructions and community workshops, form part of the school’s effort to keep in touch with present-day realities.

          In 2006, as St. Agnes’ Academy prepared itself for Grade School PAASCU re-accreditation, two super typhoons, Milenyo and Reming, brought havoc to Albay and its nearby Bikol provinces.  What typhoon Milenyo partially destroyed, killer typhoon Reming finished off.  SAA was under 12 feet of mud and water for 24 hours.  The school’s furniture, including the roof of both the High School and Grade School buildings, was extensively damaged.  Books, computers, printers, and all documents, records, development plans, report cards, syllabi, documentations and programs – all very much needed for day to day educational functions and for accreditation purposes – were either carried away by strong currents at the height of the typhoon or soaked in muddy water.  The saddest part was the fact that the school lost lives, both from the Grade School and the High School, together with their families.  The Guidance Office scheduled Debriefing sessions for traumatized students during the first back-to-school days.  There was no choice but to postpone the Grade School PAASCU visit.  Despite all these, the morale of the school community remained strong; and the spirit of volunteerism and cooperation gradually pushed the school back on its feet.

          Today, after 96 years of existence, the Academy continues to commit herself to the struggle in seeking truth, justice, peace, preservation of the environment, children and women’s rights, moral regeneration and social transformation.