HISTORY OF DON CARLO CAVINA SCHOOL
Don Carlo Cavina School was established in 1988 in response to a felt need for Catholic Education.
Its humble beginning started in 1986, the congregation of the Daughters of St. Francis de Sales arrived in the Philippines from Italy. A formation house was built in the small village of Talon, Las Piñas. It was barely two months of nurturing the spiritual needs in the village through teaching religion in Talon Elementary School, one of the few existing schools in that area that the educative mission was thought of. The brainchild was proposed by the pioneering Italian Sisters in the Philippines, Sr. Corrada Magnani (now Mother General Corrada Magnani) and Sr. Lauretana Bersani with the approval of the Mother General Madre Mariarita Foli. Sr. Helen Baliat, one of the pioneer Filipina sisters of DSFS conducted religion classes with much spirit and vigor under the shades of old trees mindless of children’s exposure to warm sun and sudden rain.
These children’s lack of opportunity to use modest facilities and to enjoy a decent education confirmed the idea of putting up a school to fulfill one of the congregations’ missions: Education of the Youth.
All preliminaries were threshed out and soon after the construction of DON CARLO CAVINA SCHOOL began in 1987. Even if the school building was not yet finished, inquiries started pouring in. The village folks monitored the progress of the construction and were just too anxious to enroll their children. Enrollment for the initial year turned out to be unexpectedly high with a total of 198 pupils: 25 Nursery, 52 Junior Kinder, 52 Senior Kinder and 69 Grade 1 pupils.
May 27, 1988, DON CARLO CAVINA SCHOOL was ready to start its mission of educating the youth. On that same day, the multi-purpose hall of DCCS was full of parents in attendance to the First Orientation Meeting. From then on, DCCS had paved its way of serving the youth and in educating them according to the noble dreams of Don Carlo Cavina.
Don Carlo Cavina School after 6 years of operation bloomed into a K-6 school of outstanding quality. Its first crop of graduates showed a remarkable performance in the initial conduct of the National Elementary Aptitude Test having placed 95th among the 50, 000 or so elementary schools in the whole country.
While classes were conducted, and its related activities went smooth sailing, new lots were acquired and annex building was erected to keep pace with the increasing number of pupils. Today, the whole building stands grandiose on a lot area of 5,420 sq. m. and its population is many times over the initial enrollment.
May 27, 2003, another new building for the growing population of elementary was blessed by Fr. Romolo Bertoni, Parish Priest of the Five Wounds. The “Cutting of Ribbon” was initiated by Dr. Alberto Mendoza,Academic Consultant of DCCS.
In its early days, there were only four teachers. DCCS Elementary has now 36 Academic Personnel, 10 Non-Academic Personnel and 8 Sisters working in the school. What DCCS has become at present shows that its founders and mentors were filled with zeal to realize the vision-mission of the school. Sr. Helen Baliat, the DCCS Principal, since its birth laid down not only the foundation of the school but the future of the DCCS children who in their innocence allowed themselves to be nurtured in a catholic education.
BIRTH OF DON CARLO CAVINA HIGH SCHOOL
It was not really in mind for the Congregation to talk and to plan about the extension of the Elementary Department. It was just a dream, a whisper of hope. The idea of putting up a school was not taken seriously at first because of the limited number of Sisters against the bulk of responsibilities required in managing an institution. And also, to attend to the increasing number of Elementary children was too overwhelming. It was of great joy to see them grow up and graduate as Cavinians nourished and filled with Christian faith and love of God.
Through God’s will and His Providence, the aspiration of the parents of these children to put up a high school department became a reality. Prayers paved the way. Now Don Carlo Cavina High School was born, “Dream came true”.
Year 1997 was really a ‘Year of Grace’ for DCCS. Specifically, the laying of the cornerstone of the high school building started in January 1997. Then, it was blessed by the Parish Priest, Fr. Aldo d’ Andria in the presence of Sr. Corrada Magnani, Sr. Lauretana Bersani, Sr. Helen Baliat, some sisters, teachers and students.
DCCS High School building now stands with a promise to carry out its mission of educating the young boys and girls according to the spirit of our founder, Don Carlo Cavina.
School Year 1997, its first year of operation. DCCS High School Department already sent off 11 batches of graduates up to the present. The first 2 batches were already out working in the field and successful in their own ways. Some of them graduated with flying colors from different Colleges and Universities in Metro Manila.
From 79 total number of pioneer students (23 second year and 56 first year students), who started the High School are now against 418 students spread in 3 sections per level from first to fourth year.
The increasing number of students every year marks the sign of continued support and trust of parents to DCCS faculty, staff and administrators in building the nation and the church by producing morally upright, God-fearing, civic-minded and self-reliant youth.