St. Mary's College of Meycauayan (St. Mary's College, St. Mary's, ESMA, SMCM) is a Catholic school in Meycauayan, Bulacan, Philippines. It is administered by the Religious of the Virgin Mary. It was formerly called Escuela Catolica de Meycauayan, and was founded in 1916. It provides Preparatory, Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary education.
History
St. Mary's College of Meycauayan, formerly called Escuela Catolica de Meycauayan and St. Mary's Academy of Meycauayan, was founded in 1916 as a Parochial School offering the primary course with Catechism as its core subject. It was and is still managed and administered by the Religious of the Virgin Mary (RVM), the first Filipino Congregation founded in 1684 by a Filipina, Mother Ignacia del Espiritu Santo.
During the Second World War, classes were temporarily suspended in June 1944 and were reopened in July 1945 with the Intermediate and First Year High School classes. March 1949 marked the graduation of the first ten High School seniors of the then St. Mary's Academy.
The school building was razed by fire on April 4, 1949. Rev. M. Ma. Justina Martinez, Superior, and M. Dolores Verceles, Principal, managed to continue the operation of the school by holding classes in private houses while a two-storey building was being constructed.
After some interruptions, a two-storey semi-concrete structure was finally completed in 1954. Eleven (11) years later the kindergarten course was recognized.
School Year 1962–1963 was a significant year for the school as she received an award of 25 Spanish dictionaries from the Spanish Embassy in Manila for having topped all other schools in Spanish in the National Government Examinations administered in March 1962.
As the school population increased, the need for physical expansion arose. In August 1962, negotiations between the school and Mr. & Mrs. Vicente Floro paved the way for the purchase of the lot on which St. Mary's College of Meycauayan now stands. Construction of the first two rooms began in May of the same year. A six-room annex was completed and came to use in 1966. A four-storey building was erected in 1968 and an extension of four rooms was made in 1978.
One of the most significant improvements of St. Mary's Academy was the completion of a concrete four-storey building in October 1981 marking the complete transfer of the whole school from kindergarten to high school. Aside from classrooms, the new building included the administrative offices, guidance office, science and reading laboratories, library, medical/dental clinic, and audio-visual and conference rooms.
To meet the needs of the increasing school population, additional classrooms were constructed facing the MacArthur Highway.
A seven-room Kindergarten building was erected at the back of the administration/elementary building. The construction was completed in October 1984.
Considering the demands of the Education Apostolate, the school opened its doors to the students in the tertiary level in 1986. The courses offered were Bachelor of Elementary Education (BEED) with specialization in Pre-School Education, English, Filipino, Mathematics, Social Studies, Science and Health; Bachelor of Science in commerce (BSC) major in accounting, Management, Financial Management, Marketing and Computer Applications.
The yearly marked increase in enrolment in the three levels needed more classrooms. Thus a new four-storey building was constructed with 26 classrooms including the new library, faculty room, home economics room and offices for the guidance and subject area coordinators.
Msgr. Sabino Vengco blessed the Multi-Purpose Hall on January 22, 1989, in the presence of the RVM sisters, teachers, students, sponsors, and guests. This Multi-Purpose Hall provides adequate space for school programs/activities, PE classes and is shared with the public for seminars/workshops and other similar gatherings.
A significant event in 1989 was the launching of the Movement for the Beatification of Mother Ignacia del Espiritu Santo by the RVM communities of SMCM and St. Mary's Academy of Sto. Niño at the St. Francis of Assisi Parish Church on October 28 of that year. The rites were participated in by Rev. Fr. Pablo Reyes, parish priest; Fr. Antonio Rigonan, assistant parish priest; Fr. Rufino Sulit, parish priest of Sto. Niño; S. Ma. Carmelita Abiera, RVM, representing Mother General; S. Ma. Anna Montilla, RVM, superior of SMCM together with a large crowd representing pastoral and religious organizations, students, religious and lay faculty of RVM schools and RVM sisters from the Luzon Regional House.