Notre Dame of Greater Manila


The Notre Dame of Greater Manila is a private Catholic high school in Caloocan City, Philippines, owned and administered by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. It was founded as an all-male school in 1963 by Fr. William P. Mc Grath of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate at the request of the Archdiocese of Manila under Archbishop Michael J. O'Doherty in 1946. It has more than 3,000 students from Nursery to Fourth Year High School. NDGM has been a member of the Notre Dame Educational Association, a group of Notre Dame Schools in the Philippines under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

History

In 1946, the missionary Oblate of Mary Immaculate began establishing the parish of Grace Park in Caloocan City upon the suggestion of Michael O’ Doherty, the Archbishop of Manila. The Grade School Department was opened in 1963 with one building in the original 5.6 hectare campus before the neighboring Our Lady of Grace Academy of Caloocan City, a former all-girls school, administered by the RVM sisters, acquired a two-and-a-half hectare property bought from the Archdiocese of Manila. Father McGrath of Notre Dame of Greater Manila opened the Elementary Department with only 266 students from Kindergarten to Grade Five. Two years later, the High School Department was opened. As years passed, student population steadily increased. The first High School seniors graduated in 1969.
By 1975, NDGM opened its doors to the indigent but deserving students and offered them five years of night high school. NDGM opened its doors for them with the same academic, expertise, and facilities. In 1980, the first batch of night school graduates received their high school diplomas together with their fellow day school graduates. Two years after, the Grant-in-Aid Program, offering a graduated tuition fee discount, replaced the night high school program.
In 1983, the High School Department set its sights on accreditation by the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities. On October 2, 1985, the High School Department was officially granted accreditation status by PAASCU, which is an accrediting body composed of different private educational institutions that stamp other private schools with a quality standard attained with regard to their programs. The Grade School Department prepared for the Formal Visit of the PAASCU Team. From January 25 to 27 in 1988, it was noted that the Grade School Department manifested wholesome community relationship, which facilitated an accreditation status for three years. After a year, the construction of the school chapel, new Science Laboratory, Campus Ministry office, Speech Laboratory, Electronic Data Processing of school operations, and relocation of the canteen was undertaken.
The Community Extension Services Program was launched on September 2, 1989. It started with activities such as the Grade School's Bagong Barrio Outreach Program, Saint Eugene de Mazenod Street Children Apostolate and “Day with the Urban Poor of Stotsenberg, Caloocan City". In 1990, The CESP soon included free medical-dental health care for the depressed communities of Grace Park Parish, donations to victims of typhoons, floods and Mt. Pinatubo's eruption and a Bahay-Lingap Drop-In-Center for Street Children. Notre Dame of Greater Manila offered courses in Electronics, Computer Secretarial and Automotive Mechanic, through its De Mazenod Skills Training Center.
On 21st-20th February 1991, the Re-Survey Visit was conducted and a unanimous recommendation of re-accreditation status for three years was granted to the High School. On April 10, 1992, the Grade School was awarded a five-year PAASCU re-accreditation status. On July 31, 1998, the re-survey was conducted on the Grade School Department and PAASCU granted another five-year of re-accreditation. The High School Department was re-accredited for five years on May 31, 2001. On November 21, 2003, PAASCU granted the Grade School for another five years of re-accreditation.
NDGM has 10 buildings: Grade School Main Building, Grade School Annex, High School Main Building, High School Science and Technology Building, DMSTC Building for vocational students, Gymnasium, High School Canteen, Kinder School Building, the air-conditioned School Chapel, and the Campus General Services Office. A continuous education process through seminars, recollections, retreats and the like is undertaken for a deeper understanding of the Vision-Mission. Serving as a guide, the Primer is envisioned to aid the community in refreshing the true Notre Dame spirit in its basic programs and activities, its staff and graduates.

Campus buildings and facilities

Grade School Main Building

Grade school sector classrooms are separated from the high school building. Rooms for both high school and grade school are all air conditioned. The building contains its own canteen and has a Basketball court on the rooftop.

Grade School Annex

Houses some of the Grade School Classrooms and the Grade School Computer Laboratories. It also has a covered court at its rooftop. The Grade School Library is situated on the ground floor of the building.

High School Main

Houses the High School classrooms for Grades 7 to 10. It also houses the High School Speech Laboratories, Electricity Laboratory and Electronics Laboratory. The High School Main Building is where the Center For Performing Arts, the school's auditorium which has a capacity of at least 400, is situated. The High School Library, which is on the Mezzanine of the 3rd floor of the building can also be found here.

High School Science Building

It houses the four Science Laboratories and two Computer Laboratories of the High School Sector. It also houses the classrooms of Grades 8 and 9.

Senior High School Building

It houses the Senior High School classrooms for Grades 11 and 12. It also includes the Senior High School Computer Laboratory, General Science, Biochemistry and Robotics Laboratories.

De Mazenod School of Technology Building

Houses the school's vocational institution, the De Mazenod School of Technology which offers vocational and technical courses, from Automotives Servicing NCII, to PC Operations NC II and Computer Hardware Servicing NC II, is accredited by TESDA. It also houses some of the Home Economics Labs of the school as well as a few Grade 7 classrooms on the second and third floors.

Gymnasia and sports facilities

There are four gymnasia in this school. Two are located in the most upper part of the Grade School buildings, the Blue Gym for the main building, and the Red Gym for the annex building, nicknamed as such from the colors of the surface of the gyms' floors.
Third is the Main Gym, which has 12 basketball boards, a lounge for spectators, and a wide, big performance area. The fourth and the last is The Fr. Enrique Gonzalez Gym.

Kinder School Building

Houses the Kinder School Department of the school. The Visual Room and Community Extension Services Office are now located at the Kinder School Building.

Notre Dame Chapel

Dedicated on April 15, 2010, this chapel is located in the high school building near the gymnasium.

Computer Laboratories

The new computer laboratories, found at the grade school and high school building, are used for the computer subjects lessons and hands-on activities. There are also computers used for internet research at the school libraries.

Citations and accreditations

Notre Dame of Greater Manila is a member of the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges, and Universities since 1976, and has been awarded a 5-year re-accreditation status, the highest in CAMANAVA area. Notre Dame of Greater Manila has also been awarded as a Center for Excellence in Primary and Secondary Education by the Dangal ng Caloocan Foundation of the Caloocan City Government.
The school has also been a member of the Notre Dame Educational Association, a group of around 194 Notre Dame Schools in the Philippines, and the Oblates Educational Association, a group of academic institutions around the world owned and administered by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate.
It is also a member of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines and the Kalookan Diocesan Schools Association, an umbrella organization of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kalookan.
The school is a member of the Philippine's largest Inter-school athletics organizations like the MILO BEST Pasarelle and SBP and NIKE Summer League.
Notre Dame of Greater Manila is also a member of De La Salle University's CONNECT-ED program, which aims to elevate the entry level standards for its higher education programs by partnering with its feeder schools in setting higher standards for their senior high school programs, as part of the university's Senior High School program.