FINALLY OPEN West Crame Elementary School in Barangay West Crame, San Juan City, is finally open. Mayor Francis Zamora led the school’s second inauguration on Monday. —GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
MANILA, Philippines — May Ann Foronda has been teaching elementary students for 10 years. She grew up at Barangay West Crame in San Juan City, but she has never taught in her community.
When she learned that a school in her place would finally open, Foronda immediately asked to be transferred from a school in Barangay Salapan to West Crame Elementary School.
“It has always been my dream to give back and teach the students in my home barangay,” she told the Inquirer during the second inauguration of her new school on Monday.
Finally, West Crame Elementary School will be occupied by students and teachers, hurdling political setbacks and safety issues almost four years after it was first opened.
The P48.3-million facility, which has 20 classrooms and a rooftop gym, was supposed to be open already after it was inaugurated on Dec. 8, 2015.
Safety issues, politics
In 2017, Joel Torrecampo, former acting schools division superintendent, said the school could not be opened due to safety concerns. It was located 50 meters from the firing range of the Philippine National Police headquarters.
Mayor Francis Zamora blamed politics for the stalled school opening.
The school was funded through the Priority Development Assistance Fund of the mayor’s father, Rep. Ronaldo Zamora, who was at odds with the local chief executive at the time, Guia Gomez.
According to Zamora, Gomez’s administration tried to turn the school into a drug rehabilitation center or public housing.
On Monday, the mayor said both the Department of Education (DepEd) and the PNP had given the go signal and certified the school safe to be occupied.
Transition period
Classes will start on Thursday but will only be for pupils in kindergarten and Grades 1, 2 and 3, according to Pinaglabanan Elementary School principal Dennis Bacle.
During the transition period, which involves securing the school’s identification number from the DepEd, West Crame Elementary School will be an extension of Pinaglabanan Elementary School, about 2 kilometers away.
Four teachers will be initially assigned to each level. Foronda will handle the 25 kindergarten pupils, while Grades 1 to 3 will have 30 pupils each.
“We can accommodate more students should they decide to transfer here,” Bacle said. “Each of the rooms are still spacious enough for 40 students. The facilities are already here, we are just waiting for the students.”
The single-shift classes will be from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on weekdays. Kindergarten class will be from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Next year, West Crame Elementary School will be open to Grades 4, 5 and 6 students.
Transfer of students
Bacle urged parents of the pupils living in West Crame, the most populous of the city’s 21 barangays, to transfer their enrollment in the newly opened school as early as possible.
Before, residents would send their children to the nearest school in nearby Camp Crame Elementary School in Quezon City or to Pinaglabanan or San Juan Elementary School, which are both in San Juan but a long jeepney ride away.
Foronda fully understood the difficulty as she experienced it decades ago.
“I’m a San Juan resident, but I finished my elementary and high school by attending schools in Quezon City,” she noted.