Timeline
1899
- April 15 - The Anglo-Chinese School (ACS) was founded by Tan Kong, the first Chinese consul to the Philippines, inside the Chinese consular premises after consulting the Chinese community. It started with some twenty students, and no tuition fee was paid at that time for it was funded by the Chinese Charity Association.
- Mr. King Siao Tong held the post as the first school head.
1900
- ACS moved to Ongpin Street in Manila's Chinatown.
1904
- Mr. Sy Kian succeeded Mr. King, who went back to China. It was during his tenure when English was added to the languages taught in the school. (Eventually, the school was called Anglo-Chinese School.) ACS also became independent from the Chinese Charity Association and organized its own Board of Trustees, a first among Philippine Chinese schools.
1909
- Mr. Sy left the school leadership. Mr. Chua King Oh became the third principal of ACS.
- Enrollment increased to hundreds, thus, ACS moved to its former site, rented a two-storey Spanish style wooden house at 1235 Sta. Elena Street in Binondo, Manila.
1911
- Mr. Chua went back to China. Mr. Yu Nai Hu succeeded him as principal.
- ACS opened night classes, another first among Philippine Chinese schools.
1914
- Mr. Tiu Hun Chiong succeeded Mr. Yu as principal of ACS, as the latter shifted to business particularly in pharmacy.
1917
- ACS opened its branch school in Quiapo, Manila.
- In order to balance the English and Chinese education of the school, Chinese classes were held in the morning and English classes were held in the afternoon.
1918
- Mr. Tiu retired as principal. The post was temporarily vacated.
1919
- Mr. Gan Bun Cho, the principal with the longest tenure (22 years), took position as school head.
1920
- With the help of two scholars from western Guangdong, ACS formed a Chinese boy scout troupe, a first in the Philippines.
1921
- March - Mr. Gan, together with some colleagues in the education circle, went to several cities in China for an educational observation. Upon returning to the Philippines, he initiated the use of Mandarin as a medium of instruction in Chinese classes; but it only lasted for one semester.
1922
- ACS enrollment reached 500 mark and a need for additional classrooms rose. Thus, a three-storey wooden building near the school located at Meisic Street was given to ACS by the Chinese Education Committee.
1923
- The newly-founded Philippine Chinese High School (now Philippine Cultural College, the country's first Chinese secondary school) first held its classes in ACS using several classrooms in the Meisic school building.
1926
- ACS revived the use of Mandarin for its Chinese classes.
1929
- ACS celebrated its 30th Foundation Anniversary. More than 4,000 copies of the anniversary book were printed. The said book is believed to be missing nowadays in the Philippines.
1930
- ACS formed its first basketball team (boys and girls, composed of ACS alumni). Both teams were able to compete in key cities nationwide and became undisputed champions during that time.
1935
- The ACS boy basketball team competed in Xiamen, Fujian Province, China and in Hong Kong (a colony of Great Britain at that time) and won the championships. These were the greatest achievements of ACS in sports, still insurmountable to date.
1936
- School facilities were augmented due to increase in enrollment. ACS, this time, rented a building and the total number of classrooms the school had were 34.
- ACS opened an English typewriting class and a bookkeeping class, the very first vocational education ever offered by a Philippine Chinese school.
1937
- When the Sino-Japanese War broke out in China, ACS opened a military training class. The graduates went back to their motherland to join the military forces. The school also started to make donations for the Chinese forces, one is by setting aside one-tenth of their salary every month to help them financially.
1939
- ACS opened day and night high school classes in the English department.
1940
- The school was highly praised for having the highest war donation nationwide amounting to more than Php 10,000.
1942
- The school was temporarily closed due to World War II and the school buildings were used as shelter for war refugees.
- January 12 - Mr. Gan Bun Cho was arrested by the Japanese for supporting the Chinese forces.
- April 15 - Mr. Gan, together with the Chinese consul, Dr. Kwangson Young, and others (most of them are ACS alumni) were killed by the Japanese.
1945
- April - ACS immediately reopened after the Liberation of Manila, the first Chinese school to do so. Remedial classes were held.
- Mr. Ang Tun Yu was appointed as the seventh principal of the school. He held the post for not more than half a year for he died due to stress and pressure of rehabilitating the school from the war.
- The board of trustees named Mr. Phi Nai Yong to succeed the late Mr. Ang.
1946
- ACS's enrollment exceeded 2,500 mark, more than 1,900 were of the day classes and almost 600 were attending night classes.
- ACS Quiapo branch became independent but retained its name as Quiapo Anglo Chinese School (now Philippine Scholastic Academy).
1947
- The school started its evening Chinese junior high school classes.
1949
- ACS celebrated its 50th Foundation Anniversary. Another anniversary book was printed.
- The Philippine Chinese High School moved to Reina Regente Street when their own school building was completed.
1956
- ACS's education system, same with all other Chinese schools nationwide, was directly supervised by the Philippine government in order to refrain the schools from infiltrating communist ideals.
1964
- Mr. Phi died due to illness. The board selected one of its members, Mr. Tan Tiong Gong as acting principal.
1969
- ACS celebrated its 70th Foundation Anniversary.
- November 1 - ACS school building, along with most of the school records, was burned to ashes. Classes were temporarily held in several places.
1970
- November 30 - The new five-storey ACS school building was about to be completed.
- December 7 - Classes were moved to the new ACS building.
1971
- Mr. Tan retired gracefully as principal. The school administration was temporarily headed by supervisors.
1975
- February - The school's entity was changed to Tiong Se Academy (TSA), in compliance with the Filipinization of Chinese schools (Presidential Decree 176 of 1973) implemented during the Marcos regime. It also limited the number of periods (from five down to three per day) of Chinese classes.
1976
- Dr. Shubert S.C. Liao, a retired professor at the University of the East, was appointed by the Board of Trustees to be the tenth principal of the school, ending the five-year vacancy of the post.
- June - Meeting the requirements set by the Philippine Ministry of Education, TSA opened its secondary curriculum for both English and Chinese curriculum.
1986
- Dr. Liao migrated with his family to the United States. The board appointed Mr. Catalino Tan, the son of the ninth principal Mr. Tan Tiong Gong, to the vacated post.
1995
- Mr. Tan retired as principal due to deteriorating health. Mrs. Julie Cheng Kin Tee served as acting principal for half a year.
- Then, the Board of Trustees named Dr. Cesar Y. Yu as the twelfth principal of the school. During his term, the school was at the height of environmental and security problems concerning the informal settlers living near the school.
1996
- The school's entity was renamed to Philippine Tiong Se Academy (PTSA).
1997
- Mrs. Julie Tee succeeded Dr. Yu as school head.
1999
- PTSA celebrated its Centennial Foundation Anniversary.
2001
- Mrs. Tee retired as principal. The board designated Mrs. Shirley Kho-Sy as the officer-in-charge of the school.
2003
- PTSA marked its 105th year with celebrations at PhilAm Life Auditorium in Manila.
- Miss Loly Ong succeeded Mrs. Kho-Sy as principal.
2005
- Mrs. Huichin Auyong Chua, a former principal of Iloilo Central Commercial High School, was named sixteenth principal of PTSA.
2006
- February 20 - Philippine San Bin School (PSBS), a Chinese school in San Nicolas, Manila, formally merged with PTSA. PSBS school head Mrs. Margarita C. Gutierrez became the seventeenth principal of PTSA.
2009
- PTSA celebrated its 110th Foundation Anniversary at four different locations, namely: Century Park Hotel Manila (November 2009), SM City San Lazaro (November 2009), SM Mall of Asia Music Hall (January 2010), and SM City Manila (February 2010).
2011
- October 30 - PTSA, together with the Philippine Chinese Education Research Center and two other Philippine Chinese schools (among 46 chosen Chinese schools and organizations in 15 countries), was cited as a "Model School in Overseas Chinese Education" in the Second World Chinese Language and Culture Education Conference held in Xian, Shaanxi Province, People's Republic of China.
2013
- The school name has been reverted back to Tiong Se Academy due to inconsistency concerns with supervising government agencies.
Read more about this topic: Philippine Tiong Se Academy