Our History

The Invitation: 1946 and Beyond (SMA’s History)
_{^{Revised by: Mr. Ely E. de Silva Jr., LPT (2021)}}

In June 1946 through the invitation of the Most Reverend Miguel Acebedo, D.D., the Bishop of Calbayog, Reverend Mother Natividad Pilapil, O.P., the Prioress General of the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena, ordered three Sisters assigned in La Milagrosa Academy in Calabayog, Samar to travel to Catarman and administer the opening of a new school. Three days after receiving the order, Mo. Teresita Hacbang, O.P., Sr. Maria Rosa Santiago, O.P., Sr. Magdalena Quisay, O.P., and two working students arrived in Catarman (The Black and White, 1949)

To help the Sisters in the establishment and organization of the new institution, a Board of Directors was formed with Atty. Mariano Singzon as president. Other members included Reverend Father Potenciano Ortega, the Parish Priest of Catarman, Don Ignacio Lahora, Señor Bernabe Figueroa, Señor Francisco Arraiza, and Judge Alberto Lim. The school was named St. Michael Academy (SMA) in honor of Bishop Acebedo, who had been instrumental in its founding (The Black and White, 1949).

Furniture was unavailable, so some families lent tables and chairs, and books were loaned from La Milagrosa Academy. The “silong” or the hollow space beneath the houses of Mrs. Vicenta Marchan-Balite and Señor Joaquin Cardenas was used as classrooms. Since there was no convent yet, Mrs. Balite also offered their house as temporary shelter for the Sisters.

On July 7, 1946, St. Michael Academy officially opened its doors. Mo. Teresita Hacbang became the first director and head of the school. Together with her were the first teaching staff composed of Sr. Maria Rosa Santiago and four lay BSE instructors.

In the summer of 1948, SMA successfully produced 17 pioneer graduates in high school. During the same year, Bishop Acebedo provided a parcel of land adjacent to the church. Immediately, the Sisters with the help of the Bishop and some benefactors built a convent and a two-floor wooden structure to house the classrooms, the library, the Science laboratory, and some of the offices. SMA also expanded to include elementary and college departments, offering an Associate in Arts leading to a Bachelor of Science in Education and was renamed St. Michael Junior College (SMJC). On April 28, 1949, SMJC conferred the degree in Associate of Arts.

By April 1952, the institution produced its first batch of 21 elementary school graduates. However, in the year that followed, the college department was discontinued.

Over the next two decades, SMJC ceased offering elementary education, reverting to its original name, St. Michael Academy. From that point forward, the Academy became a prestigious secondary school and has since earned recognition as one of the foremost Catholic institutions in Samar Island.