San Jose School La Trinidad - History

History

In 1960, Rev. Fr. John Wageners, C.I.C.M., was appointed the parish priest of La Trinidad Mission. At that time, there was no Catholic school yet in the parish, so he decided to put one up. He contacted Brother Peter Verhaegh, C.I.C.M., who created plans. Construction got underway on March 21, 1964. The eastern wing was completed in four months, and the school was formally opened with 101 students on August 3, 1964, while construction was still underway. The first second-year students were all transferees, mostly from private schools in Baguio City. When the school building was finally finished, it had 14 classrooms, a library, a laboratory, offices, a gymnasium, a stage, social halls, vocational rooms, and some storerooms. The first group of 41 students graduated in 1967.

The number of students tripled over the next ten years. Because of restrictions on further expansion because of the size of the property, some offices were converted into classrooms. During the 1988–1989 school year, the student population had reached over a thousand. Rev. Fr. Brigido Galasgas, D.D., then the school director, converted the social halls and vocational rooms into classrooms to accommodate the 20 section students. There was still a need for more classrooms and offices, so Fr. Galasgas put up another building on the only available space—behind the Father’s Rectory. During the Silver Jubilee year (1989–1990), 1,037 students were enrolled at San Jose High School. San Jose Preparatory School also opened that year.

On July 16, 1990, an earthquake damaged the main school building beyond repair. The building had to be demolished. Temporary classrooms were constructed on the playground and in the open gymnasium to hold regular classes. Construction of the new school building started in 1991 and was completed in 1994.