2 private schools in Bacolod permanently cease operations

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

BACOLOD CITY — Jack & Jill School and Castleson High School, two private schools in this city are permanently closing on June 30 after six decades of service to the community.

Dr. Muriel Lopez-Wagner, president of Jack & Jill School and Castleson High School, cited the insurmountable burden on its finances due to the reverberating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic despite its swift conversion to online classes and intensive teacher training.

She also mentioned a decrease in enrollment year after year as well as the passing away of the schools’ founder Cecilia del Castillo Lopez in 2020.

“I think several significant factors led to the ultimate financial collapse where the only way out was to sell a building,” she said in a statement released on May 9.

Lopez-Wagner expressed her deepest gratitude “to hundreds of parents, students, alumni, teachers, staff members, and loyal supporters who will always carry the Jack & Jill trademark and love.”

Staff members of the schools, she said, are prepared for a smooth transfer of their current students to other schools.

Avelyn Agudon Marañon, a parent of a Grade 5 Jack & Jill School student, said they were saddened by the management’s decision to cease operations.

“The school is not just an institution but the second home of my children. We are now in limbo where to enroll our children considering that they are in Grade 5 now,” she told the Inquirer.

“If only the management will find ways to save the school and give honor to the legacy of the founder, Mrs. Lopez. The closure caused anxiety to many, especially to the students. This may not be easy for the faculty and the staff (members) too because they will be displaced.”

Jack & Jill School is composed of preschool and elementary institutions located in Homesite and City Heights in Bacolod City.

Informally referred to by its acronym “JJS,” it is a private, non-sectarian, educational institution that in the past had an enrollment of more than 600 pupils.

Aside from Bacolod, the school also has a branch in Victorias City, Negros Occidental.

In an information posted on its Facebook page, the school is one of the few institutions in the country where karate is part of the school curriculum.

Karate, a form of martial art and an unarmed combat and self-defense system, was included in the school’s physical education class all-year round.

Jack & Jill School was founded by Del Castillo-Lopez as a preschool in 1963. She converted her living room into a classroom and started teaching 23 boys and girls from the small neighborhood of Homesite.

In 1979, Jack & Jill Kinder School in Homesite expanded to include an elementary school. A few years later, another elementary branch in Victorias was opened in 1981.

In 1995, the Castleson High School in Homesite, Castleson High in City Heights, and Sidera Special Child Center in City Heights were established.

The year after, Castleson High Schools in Homesite and Castleson High in City Heights were merged to become one school located in City Heights Subdivision.

Throughout Jack & Jill School and Castleson High School’s history, other branches in Airport, La Granja, Paglaum, and La Carlota were also opened and later closed.

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