Ateneo High going coed

MANILA, Philippines–In a “landmark decision,” Ateneo de Manila High School is opening its doors to female students for senior high school beginning next year.

In a memo to the school community on March 13, Ateneo de Manila University president Fr. Jose Ramon T. Villarin, S.J., announced the opening of the senior high school (SHS) in school year 2016-17.

The SHS will also be open to 300 male and female students from outside Ateneo, Villarin said.

He said the “landmark decision” by the school’s board of trustees, which came about in a meeting on Feb. 7, would restructure Ateneo’s high school into four years of junior high school from grades 7 to 10, and two of senior high school covering grades 11 and 12.

This updates the Ateneo’s basic education program since 2013 which consists of primary school from Grades 1 to 4, middle school covering Grades 5 and 6, junior high school covering Grades 7 and 8, and four years of high school.

A milestone

“The creation of the SHS is a milestone in our ongoing K-to-12 basic education reform program. This completes the restructuring of our basic education program into six years of grade school and six years of high school,” Villarin said.

Senior high school will be open to the incoming third-year Ateneo high school students and 300 students from other schools.

“The 300 additional entrants, both boys and girls, will be chosen from public, parochial and select private schools all over the country,” Villarin said.

“The coed nature of senior high school is part of the preparation for college,” he added.

Villarin said 100 scholarships will be given in senior high school to “academically gifted but financially challenged” students, “to provide quality education and leadership formation to those coming mainly from the public school system.”

Application requirements for Ateneo’s senior high school will be announced. The Ateneo grade and junior high schools will remain exclusive to boys.