CHANGING WORLD
Dr. Bernardo M. Villegas
It is never too early for millennials and centennials to plan for the building of their future families. Part of this forward planning is the decision on where to locate the family home. If one studies the expansion of the Metro Manila today, it is obvious that the first massive movement of homes starts at Ayala Alabang moving southward towards Nuvali and the other subdivisions being built in towns like Sta. Rosa, Binan, and Calamba. The infrastructures leading to south of Manila are the most developed. This movement will further intensify if the plans of the Province of Batangas to build a train from Sto. Tomas, Batangas, to the Batangas City Seaport and an airport for international cargo as well as the doubling of the capacity of the seaport will be realized during the next six years.
What some forward planners are considering as an alternative to the movement southward is what some urban planning experts already had considered during the time of martial law in the early 1980s: the expansion of Metro Manila towards the East, all the way to Infanta, Quezon. This has actually already been partly implemented with the construction of the Marikina-Infanta Highway (also called the Marcos Highway), a scenic 117.5-kilometer highway connecting Metro Manila with Infanta, Quezon. There is also the ongoing construction of the LRT extension from the Ortigas area to Antipolo that will make public transport to the East more convenient. Already some leading real estate developers are banking on the increase of demand for housing along that Eastern Corridor. The most prominent of these developments are the SMDC Blue Residence, Eastwood Parkview Towers, Berkeley Residence, and Parc 15th Avenue Condominium. The younger generation of families who have traditionally resided in Quezon City, San Juan, Mandaluyong and Pasig will find this move eastward more to their liking than the trend towards Calabarzon. Living in the hills of Antipolo combines the feeling of serenity, peace of mind and calm surroundings but still in close proximity to urban living, just about an hour away from Manila and 30 minutes from the bustling city of Pasig, now under the leadership of a very progressive, honest, and competent mayor.
For young couples with children in their elementary or high school years, an added attraction is the existence of a 30-year-old school for girls in a first-class subdivision in Antipolo, Mission Hills of the Filinvest group. PAREF Rosehill School is a private school founded and operated by parents following the basic educational principle of “parents first, teachers second, and students last.” PAREF stands for Parents for Education Foundation. This educational philosophy, inspired by St. Josemaria Escriva, Founder of Opus Dei, is especially relevant today as the educational process transitions towards the so-called New Normal in which blended learning will be the rule rather than the exception. With learning of children happening at home as well as in school, parents will necessarily have to be very much involved in guiding especially their elementary school children as they are taught by their teachers online.
PAREF schools have close to 50 years of experience in parent-teacher interaction. As one can read in the statement of purpose of Rosehill: “Rosehill and all the other PAREF schools provide an integral education to the students which addresses all the aspects of the human person: physical, social, intellectual, moral and spiritual. And this can happen through a strong collaboration between the home and the school, which is best achieved through the mentoring system. The commitment of partnership among parents, teachers and students helps build a unity of values at school and home—making education truly integral and dynamic.” An added advantage of sending one’s daughters to Rosehill is the establishment of another PAREF school for boys, called Northfield, in a nearby subdivision in Antipolo, the Sun Valley subdivision along the Marcos Highway, where the brothers of Rosehill’s pupils can study. The exact address of Rosehill is Sta.Monica Estate, Mission Hills Subdivision, HAVILA, Antipolo City, contact numbers : 8697-6412; 8697-1686.
Rosehill is at the forefront of blended learning. Each grade level will have a Google Site and each subject shall have a Google Classroom which will serve as the virtual room for interaction and learning. Students shall learn through both asynchronous (self-paced) activities, which will be accessible via the Google Classroom and synchronous (scheduled) sessions with the teachers using Google Meet or Zoom. The Google Site for each batch shall serve as an advisory page for announcements, general reminders, summary of deadlines, and personal formation/class advisory activities. Online virtual classes shall be recorded or other options will be given to students if they miss the online discussion. The Rosehill management realize the need to make learning accessible even when Internet becomes unavailable or technical problems arise. There will always be a variety of learning modes: a) downloadable and printable lesson guides and worksheets; b) engaging online activities (interactive websites, teacher-made applications, simulations, forums); c) scheduled virtual class (video conferences) with the teachers; d) videos and podcasts as supplement to the lessons; e) assessments in projects, worksheets or Google form quizzes.
A demonstration of how active parents are in supporting PAREF schools is the initiative of a couple of Rosehill parents to help the school build its Arts and Science Building. An artistic portrait of St. Josemaria Esriva is being made available in a numbered limited edition of only 100 pieces in two sizes: (5 x 7) at P1,600 each and (8 x 12) at P2,600. St. Josemaria is well known with the title that St. John Paul II gave him after canonizing him in 2002: the Saint of Ordinary Life. The material of the portrait is of mahogany wood with a black Rosary packed in recycled paper/ribbon (perfect as a gift). Delivery is free within Metro Manila or nationwide shipping on buyer’s account. Those interested can get the order form from bit.ly/PortraitFundraiser. Confirmation should come within 3 days. Then payment can be made through BPI#4119-0493-64 or G-Cash 0917-533-2172 (Marie Melanie N. del Fonso). Finally, upload a screenshot of payment in bit.ly/PortraitPayment. First to pay, first served. There are only 100 pieces of each size.
For comments, my email address is [email protected]