Holy Infant Montessori Center

Holy Infant Montessori Center (HIMC), is a private non-sectarian institutional facility of Filipino basic education, offering K-12, situated in Barangay BF Homes, Caloocan City, Philippines, and operating as a recognized institution subject to the Division of City Schools of Caloocan. While a private school, the school site is the official polling station for Barangay BF Homes during national and local elections.[1] The relatively small enrollment population of the school allows for more effective implementation of the Montessori method, and consequently, gives the school stature as one of the most acclaimed private schools in the city of Caloocan.

Holy Infant Montessori Center
Address
4 Ninang Helen Street

Caloocan City
,
Metro Manila

Philippines
Information
TypePrivate, nonsectarian, secondary school
MottoCommittitur educationis, in gloria Iesus, quondam puer (Educational Commitment in honor of Lord Jesus who was once a child)
Established1977
FounderCarmencita Hernandez-Reyes
PresidentDomingo A. Reyes, MD
PrincipalGerard H. Reyes, MA
Campus DirectorDominiq Ruth G. Reyes, RPm
Officer in chargeRegina Celine I. Hernandez
GradesK-12 (Nursery to Senior High)
Enrollment~1,000 students
Color(s)Blue      and      Gold
AthleticsMonarchs
AccreditationDepartment of Education Recognition Status
Yearbook"HIMC"
AffiliationsAssociation Montessori International, Children's Museum and Library Inc., Division of City Schools - Caloocan
EmblemCrown of the Holy Infant Jesus
Websitewww.himc.ph

The school is affiliated with the Amsterdam-based Association Montessori Internationale, founded by Maria Montessori.

History

Holy Infant Montessori Center was founded in the summer of 1977 by Carmencita Hernandez-Reyes in a residence at West Triangle, Quezon City. As the student population grew, the school moved to its current location at BF Homes Caloocan. As a fervent Catholic and an alumna of La Consolacion College Manila, Hernandez-Reyes had been inspired to name a Montessori method institution, influenced by her Catholic upbringing, and named after the Infant Jesus.

By 1983, the grade school department was founded. In 1986, the former Department of Education, Culture, and Sports gave the institution a Recognition Status for its Preschool Department. This was followed by Complete Elementary Courses recognition in 1988.

When Hernandez-Reyes died in 1992, her son Gerard H. Reyes, an alumnus and faculty of the Ateneo de Manila University, started heading the HIMC Administration as Director, with his father Dr. Domingo Reyes, M.D. as president. In 1996, HIMC opened the high school department, integrating Computer Literacy in its curriculum. The first set of High School graduates were presented on the year 2000.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Holy Infant Montessori Center was among the first five institutions in Caloocan City to offer alternative delivery modes of learning approved by the Department of Education, along with University of the East Caloocan, St. Mary's Academy of Caloocan City, Escuela de Sophia of Caloocan, Inc., and Mhisia Christian Montessori.[2]

Facilities

Preschool Building

The Preschool Building houses the HIMC Covered Court, the whole Preschool Department, and two faculty rooms. It also has one canteen. It has two storeys. Rooms inside the buildings are called by the theme color of the classroom. This is the largest building of the HIMC so far, although has the least number of classrooms. The covered court is the venue for almost all programs and events of the school such as the weekly Flag Ceremony, the Quarterly Parents-Teachers Conference, Living Rosary, High School Year Level Days, Science Fair, Miting de Avances, PE Classes, Teachers' Day, Christmas Gift-giving Project (in cooperation with Mary Chiles Hospital and Carmencita Hernandez-Reyes Foundation), Commencement Exercises, CAT Battalion Formation, Baccalaureate Mass, and other academic and sports tournaments.

High School Building
Senator Trillanes (in orange) awaits his turn to vote in the 2016 national elections at the Holy Infant Montessori Center.

The High School Building is a 2-storey building that houses the main canteen, the High School Faculty Room, the Copy Room, the SSG Headquarters, and classrooms serving the senior high and junior high departments. This also serves as the main polling precinct for Barangay BF Homes during national and local elections.

Main Building

The Main Building is a 2-storey structure housing the Elementary Department, a canteen, two faculty rooms, the Computer and Internet Laboratory, the Administrative Offices, the Finance Office, the Registrar's Office, the Awards Hall, the Clinic, the Science Laboratory, the Home Economics Room, the Music Room, the AVR, the Library, a mini-shrine for the Holy Infant, the School Supplies and Uniform store and the classrooms for elementary department. Before it became an institutional facility, the Main Building used to be the house of the Reyes family, that until now, some parts of the older house are visible inside the Clinic and the Administrative Offices.

Student Life

Even prior the historic implementation of the Philippine curriculum from the 10-year to the K-12 program, HIMC's academic services has already been transitioning into the K-12 curriculum, allowing for the four tracks prescribed by the Department of Education to operate in the school: Academic, Tech-Voc-Livelihood (TVL), Sports, and Arts - which are further divided into the strands.

As part of the Montessori method, the school encourages personal and individualized education. To further promote this culture, the faculty members are referred to as "Teacher" and even in several occasions and written communiques, faculty members are referred to with an abbreviated Teacher (T.) before their names.

Extracurricular club meetings are usually set weekly, with the exception of the student council meetings and the ad hoc committees they create for several projects, which may meet more often. First Friday Catholic Mass happens when the first Friday of the month falls on a school day without class suspensions. The students are ushered through a 5-minute walk with faculty and administrators to hear the Catholic mass in English at the nearby Christ the King Parish Church-BF Homes, 400 meters off campus. The Annual Baccalaureate Mass is administered at the covered court.

Heavier vehicular traffic occurs during first period and dismissal due to the limitations in space, as the school not only caters to residents of Barangay BF Homes but of the whole North Caloocan, and portions of Quezon City, City of Valenzuela, and Bulacan. The school is in constant partnership with the local government in matters of traffic management, security, and logistics.

HIMC consistently hones students for admission into the most prestigious universities of the Philippines such as the University of the Philippines system, Ateneo de Manila University, University of Santo Tomas, and De La Salle University, among others.

The highest award conferred by the school is the Carmencita Hernandez-Reyes Award which aims to recognize the student's excellence in academics, leadership, sports, arts, and spirituality. The conferral of this award does not happen annually as the process is deemed to be highly selective, as the awardee should have manifest excellence in all these categories. It is usually awarded to graduating seniors during graduation.

An exonym used for students of HIMC is HIMCian (pronounced as /hím-shan/); but the word Taga-Holy (from Holy) is commonly used in local parlance due to HIMC's standing and fame in the locality, and with it being the only school in the immediate area with the word "holy" on its name.

Student Organizations

Student Government
This seal of the Supreme Student Government was initially used for school year 2008-2009.

The Supreme Student Government (SSG) is the student council of the school, responsible for representing student concerns to the administrative body, and tasked to organize and manage several student-initiated events in the school, along with other interest clubs and organizations. Among many events, highlight events are the Buwan ng Wika during August when the Lakan at Lakambini pageant is annually held, and the Christmas Gift-giving Project in partnership with the Carmencita Hernandez-Reyes Foundation and Mary Chiles Hospital.

The HIMC SSG is among several private schools' student governments actively participating in the events of the Department of Education in the city, regional, and national chapter activity, including the Boys and Girls' Week of the City Government of Caloocan and the National Leadership Training for Student Government Officers of the Department of Education.

Campus Paper

The Oracle is the campus paper established in 2006, under the tutelage of T. Christopher G. Mata, then Communications and Social Science faculty for junior and senior high school students. Its founding Editor-in-Chief is a woman, Vida Subingsubing, who ultimately attained a broadcast degree from UP Diliman. The first editorial staff consisted a majority of women, and with only 3 male staffers.

Dance Company

The Street Movers was founded in 2006 by longtime English faculty member T. Gilda Ortega, Jr., who was an alumna of the prestigious House of Dance Philippines. Initially specializing in hiphop, the group has flourished into a versatile dance company, performing and competing locally and nationally. The group is being trained by members of the internationally acclaimed dance group UPeepz and the prestigious House of Dance, Philippines.

Varsity Team

The HIMC Varsity Team consists of teams for basketball, volleyball, and cheerdance. The school mascot name is The Monarchs. The team consistently places and wins several championships of the Interschool Basketball-Volleyball League (ISBVL) of North Caloocan. The team is also an active participant of the NBA 3X Philippines and won the 18U division in 2018.[3] There were several proposals to rename the team, and among these proposals include: Royals, Regals, Trawlers, and Warriors - all alluding to the ministry of Jesus Christ as taught in the Bible and in Catholic tradition.

Alumni
gollark: Ooh, we could spread the Dino Game virally.
gollark: Anyway, I did this because it is *designed* for single user use.
gollark: The other strain is based on a different thing and even conveniently tells you which pages it just spread to.
gollark: Well, not really, that one is lost, but it's based on that.
gollark: That is the original replicator strain.

References

  1. "VP Candidate Sen. Trillanes votes in Caloocan precinct". GMA News. GMA News. May 9, 2016.
  2. Losaria, Nerissa. "1st Endorsement". Department of Education (Google Drive). Department of Education. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  3. "North Luzon teams dominate NBA 3X Philippines 2018". Fox Sports. Fox Sports.
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