COMPETENT CATHOLIC EDUCATION San Ildefonso College is a diocesan college in the Diocese of Antipolo. Dedicated to the formation of the young and adults of Tanay and of the surrounding municipalities, it offers 4 levels of education: preschool, elementary, high school and college. For more than three centuries, the town of Tanay has been under the Franciscan friars that belongs the Province of San Gregorio Magno. The early missionaries dwelt so much on evangelization with the natives and tried to expand Catholic religion within their ecclesiastical boundaries. FRANCISCAN MISSIONARIES This educational instruction for the natives was realized during the year of the fray Antonio Santiago y Verdugo. Together with the other friars, the Franciscans introduced the basic rudiments of the alphabets, the three R’s and of course, the Doctrina Cristiana and the ways and how to recite the basic prayers like Ave Maria, Pater Noster and Gloria Patri plus the catechism given by the Curas. In one of the memoirs of the late Rev. Fr. Arthur Price, a Columban missionary, he was able to found an extant of the early Spanish records of the parish, which corroborates the establishment of the school building in 1850s. It says that the new building, which is intended for the educational instruction was divided for the boys and the girls in the Poblacion. This was followed by the incoming maestro in 1860 wherein this incoming teacher would be met by the cura with the ceriales, the alcalde, banda de musico and the principales of the town. The church of San Ildefonso THE COLUMBAN FATHERS The first resident Columban missionary in Tanay was Fr. Dermot Feeny who held it down until Fr. Gerald Cogan arrived one month later in August 1937. While Fr. Cogan was taking his holidays in Ireland, Fr. Arthur Price took over as parish priest from April 1939 to July 1940. The immediate post-war effect saw newly arrived young priests filling in the post of the veteran missionaries who went home for a rest. Fr. Eddie Bahl was the earliest to arrive. He became the parish priest of Tanay from 1946 to 1948. PICKING UP THE PIECES… The school’s operation, however, was temporarily shut down during World War II. The damages caused by World War II destroyed many lives and infrastructures in the town of Rizal. All were shut down. Rev. Fr. Eddie Bahl, SSC After the war, the Columban missionaries picked up again the pieces of the rubbles of the war. They revived again the school. Since there was no school in Tanay, many of the young people studied in a nearby schools such as Morong and elsewhere and were gone all week. This is what Rev. Fr. Edmund Bahl saw the need when he was assigned in Tanay. Partly from boredom, Fr. Bahl undertook in establishing a high school which he had determined could easily be housed in the old convento. Nowhere to ask for funds or financial support, Fr. Bahl enlisted the aid of the American military forces to renovate the building and acquire the equipment necessary to begin. With the help of Mr. Tommy Chema, aide to the Navy Commander in Manila, gave Fr. Bahl moral and material support in building the school. It was named San Ildefonso High School in honor of the town’s patron saint San Ildefonso de Toledo. By 1947, the high school was open. SECULAR CLERGY Through the course of time, Tanay had developed and by 1966, the Columbans relinquished their post and turnover it to the Diocesan clergy. Fr. James MacCarthy made the formal turnover in August 1966. Fr. Protacio G. Gungon was the first Filipino parish priest and became the first school director of San Ildefonso College. It was a productive thirty years for the Columbans and a time much appreciated by the people of Tanay. On Aug. 4, 2005, a new school president was installed in the person of Rev. Msgr. Peter C. Cañonero. He implemented a number of development projects so that San Ildefonso could live up to its status as a Diocesan Catholic institution. Under his care and supervision, SIC went massive repairs and extensive “face-lifting” of buildings and facilities. At present, San Ildefonso College remains an active member of Manila Archdiocesan and Parochial Schools Association (MAPSA), the Catholic Education Association of the Philippines (CEAP), People Management of the Philippines (PMAP), Private Schools Athletic Association, Diocese of Antipolo Catholic Schools Association (DACSA) and National Inter-University Forum in Education. To answer the needs of the community and in response to Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Memorandum Order, the BSE Curriculum was revised for the implementation in Academic Year 2005-2006. Likewise, the BEED with areas of concentration in Content Courses and Early Childhood Education were also implemented during that year. On June 2, 2007, the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) Program, majors in Human Resource Development and Management (HRDM) and financial Management (FM) were recognized by CHED for immediate implementation in Academic Year 2007-2008. On School Year 2016-2017, SIC takes on a big leap when it adapted international STEM programs created by STEM experts from iCarnegie Global Learning and Robomatter Inc., who are both global leaders in STEM education. The curriculums are built on a foundation of pedagogy that features learner-centered instruction. The revolutionary curriculums use inquiry-based learning to actively engage students as part of the learning process. iCarnegie Global Learning Curriculum, a globalized high-end curriculum, which is a learner-centric approach that aligns and integrates assessment, instruction, education technology and teacher training. San Ildefonso College as it celebrates its centennial celebration this coming 2018, the Catholic Institution is proud to be at the service of her people since its foundation (1918) and up to the present. Countless achievers in all disciplines she has molded, formed, and nurtured to be who they are now. Until now, San Ildefonso College is always committed to her vision-mission of forming every individual into global and competitive person with a touch of Catholic and quality education.