Jose Abad Santos Memorial School
| Jose Abad Santos Memorial School | |
|---|---|
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| Location | |
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Manila and Quezon City Philippines |
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| Information | |
| Type | Private, Progressive Nonsectarian, Coeducational |
| Motto | Learning To Be Free |
| Established | 1933 |
| Administrator | Gillian Virata, Executive Director for Basic Education |
| Principal | Remedios H. Cruz (Manila), Diana Gutierrez (Quezon City) |
| Grades | K to 12 |
| Campus | P.H. Lim St., Malate, Manila, EDSA, Quezon City |
| Color(s) | Maroon, and White |
| Accreditation | PAASCU (JASMS Manila) |
| Hymns | The JASMS Song, The University Hymn |
| Website | www |
The Jose Abad Santos Memorial School, or JASMS, is the basic education institution (Kindergarten to Grade 12) of the Philippine Women's University (PWU). JASMS offers preschool, elementary, and secondary education. The school is an acknowledged pioneer in progressive education developed from and for the Philippine democratic experience based on a unique approach described as education for democracy or learning to be free by its founding director, the late Doreen Barber Gamboa.
Presently, the JASMS system occupies three campuses: the nursery (3-year-olds)-to–Grade 6 levels of PWU JASMS Manila (formerly JASMS Indiana) located on Pilar Hidalgo-Lim Street in Malate, Manila; the PWU JASMS Manila High School (Grade 7 to Grade 12) in the PWU main campus on Taft Avenue in Malate, Manila; and the nursery-to–Grade 12 campus of JASMS Quezon City (QC) in West Triangle Homes, EDSA, Quezon City.
JASMS evolved from the preschool (est. 1933) of the Philippine Women’s University (PWU) under the leadership of President Francisca Tirona Benitez. President Benitez hired Doreen Barber Gamboa and Priscilla Abaya to first set up and run the preschool in the fenced-in area which was the PWU gymnasium. Mrs. Gamboa was of Irish descent and had trained in psychology.
Gamboa and Abaya noticed that most of the children in the new PWU preschool were being held back from fully exploring the books, art materials, blocks, and play facilities provided them in school. They wouldn’t participate in the singing, art, and story-telling activities led by the two young teachers—except for three young boys who raced through all the materials and eagerly participated in all the activities. The teachers noticed that these three boys were the only ones who were dropped off at school without yayas (nannies), parents, or relatives.
First, the teachers sought the cooperation of over-protective parents to free the children from their yayas and other “watchers.” Next, they expanded the physical set-up of the classroom to include the outdoors. The children were encouraged to play vigorously, explore their environment, and experiment widely with the materials that the environment had to offer. Movement was encouraged and employed, rather than restricted. As the population of the school grew, so did the popularity of the school with the parents. It was the parents themselves who petitioned for the preschool’s expansion into a bona fide grade school department.
In 1949, the PWU elementary department was renamed the Jose Abad Santos Memorial School (JASMS) in honor of the late Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos, a World War II hero who was chairman of the PWU board of trustees prior to his execution by the enemy in 1944.
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