History
Bishop Therode Schu, SVD, expelled from China by the Communists because he preached the Word, found himself in the Philippines in 1953. Still driven to serve the Chinese, his vision was to keep the Word alive by establishing a parish and a school to take care of the apostolic needs of the Chinese. Eduardo Kang Tan, Sr., a prominent Chinese in Dagupan convinced Bishop Schu to establish the parish and school in Dagupan City. In 1955, the Parish of Saint Therese was officially established with Father Joseph Kwo as the first Parish Priest. At the same time, plans for the school were made with the assistance of concerned citizens led by Eduardo Kang Tan, Sr.
In 1957, the school opened its doors to students from kindergarten to first year high school. It was then known as St. Therese Chinese Academy with 130 enrollees and eight teachers. The first director was Fr. Richard Hartwich, SVD. The other administrative officials were: Fr. Peter Joseph Kwo – school treasurer, Fr. Matthias Ning – school disciplinarian. In 1958, Fr. Aloysius Yang, SVD became the acting School Director but was replaced after a while by Fr. Hubert Lohrbach, SVD. In 1960, the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) took over the ownership and administration of the school. Henceforth, the school was known as the Divine Word Academy of Dagupan (DWAD). In 1961, Fr. Henry Schmitz, SVD became the School Director, a position he was to hold for 15 years. The year also saw the High School Department holding its first Commencement exercise with eight graduates.
In 1976, Fr. Matthias Ning, SVD became the School Director, a position he held for 11 years. In 1988, Fr. Jess P. del Rosario, SVD was at the helm as the Director of the school. In 1995, Fr. Ambrose L. Ponce, SVD became the Campus Minster, and then in 1996, he became the School Director. year's later he was assigned to cagayan and Rev. Fr. Crisogono Cancino, SVD, more commonly known as "Fr. Cris", took over while he is also the parish priest of St.Therese. In 2009, Fr. Cris was assigned to Naguillan, a town in the province of La Union, North of Dagupan. The principal and Asst. Parish Priest Rev. Fr. Edsel R. Demillo, SVD succeeded as school director.
Read more about this topic: Divine Word Academy Of Dagupan
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