The Department of Education (DepEd) here will be offering new special programs apart from basic education at the grade school level once two public elementary schools transfer to their new site in July.
This developed after the formal turnover of the new site for the City Central Elementary School and the Calindagan Elementary School happened on Wednesday.
“Here in Dumaguete City, we are aspiring to be the hub of development in terms of sports, culture and the arts, and journalism,” Dr. Marina Salamanca, head of the DepEd City Schools Division, said in an interview.
There is a lot of potential in these special programs as seen in the recent Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association games, the Festival of Talents, and the Regional Schools Press Conference where learners from Dumaguete emerged in top spots, she pointed out.
Salamanca said they would seek technical assistance from the “higher office” on how to maximize the use of the space and facilities of the new site, the former Catherina Cittadini – St. Louis School (CC-SLS).
The CC-SLS offered elementary and high school education for 33 years until it closed last year.
Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo and the Ursuline Sisters of the Poor, represented by Sr. Sicily Jacob and Sr. Wilma Pitogo, signed a purchase agreement for the city’s acquisition of the private school at PHP120 million.
A ceremonial turnover of the “key” was held after the signing at the city council session hall, attended by DepEd officials, city councilors, and other stakeholders.
Salamanca noted that initially, a deed of usufruct was eyed between the city government and the DepEd but now it would be a donation instead to the agency.
The DepEd already has PHP3 million in funds intended to upgrade classrooms for the two public elementary schools but with the new site, the money will be used for improvement instead, she added.
The target date for the transfer of the two public schools to the CC-SLS will be in July, in time for the opening of the next school year.
Both schools will not be merged, rather, they will be co-located, similar to other public schools here that offer separate programs, Salamanca explained.
The date for the donation from the city to the DepEd is scheduled sometime in June, she added. (Judy F. Partlow/PNA)
