After Nine Years: A Bigger and Better SHS Department
Nine years after it was first implemented as part of the K-12 Program, the Senior High School (SHS) Department of MGC New Life Christian Academy (MGCNLCA) has come a long way. From an initial number of 50 students, the department has experienced significant growth, with now more than double the number of students and high college acceptance rates. It also welcomes a new department supervisor to lead the way further forward.
Rosalee Pagnamitan, who started with the SHS department nine years ago as its first supervisor, talked about the birth pains of the department since its establishment in 2015, a year prior to the Department of Education’s implementation of the program nationwide. The department initially held classes at Treston International College with only two classrooms, as construction of the new school building was ongoing at that time. The three starting strands were Accountancy, Business, and Management (ABM), Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS), and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), with ABM having 21 students, HUMSS 7 students, and STEM with 22 students.
Pagnamitan shared that during the first two years of the SHS program’s implementation, the department was still figuring things out. But as time passed, “we became more confident, and we invited more teachers, retainers, [and] part-timers,” she continued.
In 2016, the department moved to its new home on the 6th floor of the newly-constructed Phase 2 building of MGCNLCA. This came with welcome developments such as the assignment of classrooms to the different batches and strands and the appointment of strand coordinators.
“After two years, when we learned to be more confident and learned the ropes … we added more activities,” remarked Pagnamitan. The department added life immersions to its program, which aimed to expose the students to real-life situations outside the four corners of the classroom, as well as 40-hour work immersions, which saw the SHS students doing on-the-job training with partner corporations, to learn skills needed in the workplace. The 40 hours of work immersion was eventually extended to 80 hours this year to give the students more time to learn on the job.
The department also periodically invited guest speakers who were experts in their fields to talk to the students, including notable businessman Donnie Tantoco, DLSU Law Dean Atty. Chel Diokno and UP Professor Jun De Leon, e-commerce entrepreneurs Steve and Chester Sy, artist Nanding Josef, and journalists Howie Severino, Manny Mogato, Ed Lingao, Raffy Tima and Jiggy Manicad. “That’s one of the strengths of the SHS [program] because inviting experts in their field allows students to be more … updated with the current trends in the industry. And of course, it helps them to see the connection between the academe and the industry,” she added.
Over time, as the department continued to evolve, one of the major changes was the introduction of the General Academic Strand (GAS) to the SHS department during the pandemic. This was done to address issues of uncertainty among students who were still unsure of which strand to take.
Pagnamitan also highlighted the improvement of students’ academic performance over the years. “Because they have been prepared in SHS—they matured here, and they learned skills here—they’re doing well in college, and many of them are graduating with Latin honors, and we’re very happy about that. We’re proud of our students.”
The former supervisor also noted that in recent years, there has been an increase in MGCNLCA graduates’ acceptance rates to various colleges and universities, both locally and internationally. “Our students are becoming more confident after SHS to study abroad. Whereas before, they had to repeat two levels, two years of high school, now … after graduating [from] SHS, because of the K-12 program … they can proceed directly to the course that they want to take in college,” she explained.
The long-time SHS department supervisor also expressed her surprise at the increasing students’ interest in the ABM strand. Previously, the STEM strand had more students, but now the ABM strand has more enrollees. Pagnamitan attributed this to the inclusion of electives that were previously exclusive only to STEM, such as Precalculus and Basic Calculus, into the curriculum for other strands.
This year, Raquiel Pinlac is stepping into the role of department supervisor of SHS after five years as Junior High School B Supervisor. She revealed that the large number of students for this school year’s Grade 11 batch, 70 students in all (37 ABM, 29 STEM, 3 HUMSS, and 1 GAS), led to sectioning within the batch. Section A will be ABM, while Section B is made up of STEM, HUMSS, and GAS. As a result, core classes formerly taken as a whole batch will now be taken by section.
Additionally, Pinlac also mentioned that most subjects would now have two sessions per week, each lasting from 75 to 90 minutes, compared to the previous schedule of one session per week with double the amount of time.
The newly appointed supervisor acknowledged the challenges she faced in managing the hectic class schedules and adjusting her leadership approach to suit the department. She also shared how she also finds strength through God’s wisdom, her prior experience as a teacher in the SHS department, and the guidance of Pagnamitan.
“So far, those are the changes we have implemented, but we are planning for more in the coming weeks and months! Exciting year ahead, only by God’s grace!” concluded Pinlac.
