Brief History
True to its mission to “participate in the evangelizing mission of the Church by proclaiming Jesus Christ and building the Kingdom of God” (Congregational Mission Statement), the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena has zealously established schools throughout the country and abroad. In the mid-fifties, the idea of setting up another school within the compound of the Motherhouse located in the then rugged fields of San Francisco del Monte was conceived. It was in response to the educational needs of the growing community in the area. At that time, the entire place looked like a God-forsaken country, and it took the unfaltering courage and foresight of Rev. Mother Natividad Pilapil, O.P., who was then the Superior General of the Congregation, to start the construction of the first building along Del Monte Avenue in 1958.
At the opening of the school year 1959-1960, Siena College opened its doors to 500 students who enrolled in the grade school, high school and college departments. The courses offered then in the college were Bachelor of Science in Arts, Commerce and Education, Secretarial and Home Arts. From then on, the Siena College community of administrators, faculty, personnel, students and parents grew not only in number, but also in wisdom, grace and in the spirit of service to the larger community. Soon enough, it gained prestige and wide recognition as a reputable Catholic school.
In 1972, responding to the needs and demands of the time for a kind of service education that would address the problems of unemployment and school dropouts, Siena College phased out the traditional four-year courses and retained only the Secretarial and Special Home Arts courses. In lieu of these, terminal courses were offered and the ladder-type curriculum was adopted. These courses were Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Secretarial Administration, Food Service Administration, Junior Secretarial Course, Food Technology, Practical Entrepreneurship, Hotel and Restaurant Management, General Clerical Course and Tourism. At this time, too, the grade school adopted the innovative program called the Individualized Group-Guided Education (IGGE).
In 1974, fully aware of its responsibility to be an agent of change, Siena College adopted policies, measures and procedures to improve and upgrade the quality of its service. To insure improvement, the school underwent two self-surveys: one during the school year 1974-75 and the other during the school year 1976-77. The Council on Education of the Congregation conducted these surveys. As a result of these, a strong interest on the part of the administration and staff to apply for accreditation was aroused. The Education Council of the institution unanimously approved of the plan.
The school year 1977-78 marked a more thorough and rigid operational self-survey using the PAASCU (Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities) tools for evaluation. The three departments of Siena College underwent the PAASCU preliminary surveys during the school year 1978-79. The following year, the drive for improvement and development was carried on unhesitatingly and after a successful formal survey by the PAASCU, the grade school and the high school departments, as well as the college program of Bachelor of Science in Business Administration were granted accreditation for a period of three years.
In 1980, the Congregation, through the General Chapter, approved the program of development for all its schools. This program is the Catholic Schools-Systems Development (CS-SD). A very unique and highly systematized program, the CS-SD consists of different phases of continuing development for Catholic schools with emphasis on the formation of personnel into other Christ through a radical living of the Gospel and the improvement of educational services through Christ-like operations. Siena College entered the program immediately after its formation by the Congregation. The Program, as adopted, came to be known as OP-SSD (Order of Preachers-Schools Systems Development Program). The congregational Council on Education facilitated its implementation.
In October 1982, the three departments of Siena College underwent the first Congregational Evaluation Visit (CEV), which is part of the CS-SD program. It looked into how the school’s instructional program and operations are in consonance with the congregational mission and charism. In February of the same school year, 1982-83, the college and high school departments had their PAASCU re-accreditation visits, successfully passed it and were given an accredited status for five years. The grade school had its re-accreditation visit last August 1983 and was also given a five-year accredited status.
In June of 1987, Siena College, QC launched a grant-in-aid program for catechists and religion teachers. This program aims to assist the poor but deserving young people, who came from the different regions of the Philippines and are determined to help in the catechetical programs of their respective schools or parishes. The program ensures a “careful preparation … enriched with both religious and professional formation.” (Vatican) The program was initiated by Sr. Prudencia Andan, OP, the SCQC president then. In the General Chapter of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena in December 1991, the Mother Francisca Formation Institute of Religion Teachers and Catechists was approved as the Congregation’s Program in coordination with Siena College, QC.
During the school year 1988-89, the three departments were visited and surveyed again by the PAASCU and were granted accreditation for another five years. The three departments successfully passed the resurvey visits during the school years 1994-95 and 2000-2001. Being a member of the PAASCU is recognition and an acknowledgement of the school’s commitment to quality education. In 1997, the Siena College QC Extension Mission School was established for the education of our indigenous brothers and sisters in Pasbul, Porac, Pampanga.
Siena College turned forty in 1999 (1959-1999). Inspired by the richness of her history and challenged by the call of the Church to respond to the five aims of the Great Jubilee Year 2000, she embarked on a yearlong Ruby celebration with the theme: “Towards New Directions.” Ten institutional programs and projects were conceived in response to the corresponding Jubilee Objectives, the 5Rs: return of the land, rest of the earth, release of prisoners, recall of debts & recovery of feminine principle, which have been continued until now.
Siena College has committed itself to the task of continuing, with consistent efforts, the work of development and improvement for quality Christian education that will bring to fruition its vision, mission and goals. The following new programs were opened in 2003: the Caregiver course to enhance the development of skilled human resources in the health, social and other community development services and the Special Education Program to provide conducive learning environment and facilities for children with special needs. In 2004, the Night High School Program (now known as the Beaterio High School) was opened to accommodate the needs of the poor but deserving public elementary school graduates. The school through its programs has shown deep commitment to the formation and development of a community of disciples who are “maka-Diyos, maka-tao, maka-bayan at maka-buhay.” As a PAASCU member since 1980, Siena College, QC was once again granted a five-year re-accreditation status for the three departments in AY 2005-2006.
In SY 2007-2008, the SCQC’s grade school and high school departments were merged into one division – the Integrated Basic Education Department. In 2009, Siena College, QC celebrated its golden jubilee with the theme: “SCQC @ 50: Being Blest… Blessing Others … Moving On.” The celebration was culminated with the theme: “Prelude to Creating Possibilities” which will challenge and guide us for the coming years.
In the same year, the Congregation of Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena, realizing the serious concern in the educational apostolate of the need to motivate more young people to pursue teaching profession as a special vocation, made a recommendation during its 10thGeneral Chapter that Siena College QC offer teacher education program or Bachelor of Secondary Education (BSEd). Siena College QC accepted the challenge as its humble contribution to the Church, nation and congregation of providing a program that will focus on training Catholic, values-oriented and professionally competent teachers. In AY 2010-2011, the school opened the BSEd majors in Mathematics, English, Biological Science, Special Education, and Physical Science.
In 2012, the Integrated Basic Education was granted re-accreditation status for a period of five years by the PAASCU. The College Department’s BSBA & BSHRM Programs were given re-accreditation status for a period of three (3) years in 2014. During the school year 2011-2012, the school started the transition from Basic Education Program to the K to 12 Enhanced Basic Education Program (as per RA 10533).
On April 10, 2015, SCQC received the Department of Education’s approval to offer SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL Program starting SY 2016-2017 with two tracks: Academics with Humanities & Social Science (HUMSS), Science & Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM), and Accountancy, Business & Management (ABM) strands; and Technical-Vocational-Livelihood with Information Communication Technology (ICT), Electrical Installation, Food & Beverage, Bread & Pastry Production, Housekeeping, Travel Services & Bartending strands. The first cohort of graduates of Senior High School of the K to 12 Program of Siena College graduated on April 2018.
In 2017, as the SCQC community commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Siena Family Rosary Crusade, the Year of the Parish: Community of Communities, “let us all carry on and imitate Mary, a deeply Eucharistic Soul, and all our lives will become a Magnificat” (Pope Benedict XVI). By this milestone, the school community members fervently prays that as they continue to face the new phase of their time, they will have the same desire and ardent hearts to promote the true meaning and message of this act of devotion.
SCQC continuously “promotes the value of quality education that gives priority to academic excellence and competence, moral values, spirit of service and integrity and to develop learning leaders who will be able to guide and lead the young generation towards self-actualization or realization of one’s full potentials for the service of the community, the Church, the country and society.” On June 28, 2018, the Federation of Accrediting Agencies of the Philippines (FAAP) granted Level II accredited status to the BSBA, BSHRM and High School Programs and Level III to Grade School Program of SCQC for “having satisfactorily met the standards and fulfilled requirements of the PAASCU.” The certification of accreditation status of the said programs is valid until May 2023.
On October 12, 2018, SCQC was chosen as one of the nine awarded Quezon City’s most outstanding institutions during the Manuel Luis Quezon Gawad Parangal. The citation reads “… for offering a religious education that has compassion for humanity; for constantly updating its programs to fit the changing times; and for spreading Catholic teachings through the wheels of education, for the benefit of all.” (Outstanding Citizens & Institutions Gawad Parangal Awardees 2015-2018, Volume 2) Celebrating another milestone of Siena College is a both grace and gift from God. It marks significant events and a turning point in the school’s history.
Siena College QC launched its 60th anniversary celebration on December 15, 2018 and culminated on December 19, 2019. Various events took place, giving past and current administrators, faculty, staff, students, alumni, parents, benefactors and friends an opportunity to commemorate the school’s history, to celebrate its progress and achievements, and to plan for the future. The theme for the Diamond Jubilee is “Fiery Red: #SienaQC@ 60 (Burning Bright).”
On May 14, 2019, the Department of Education approved the request of SCQC to include Secondary Level in the Special Education Course with stipulation to “strictly comply” with DepEd Order No. 072, s 2009 entitled “Inclusive Education as Strategy for Increasing Participation Rate of Children.”
Guided by the ideals of St. Dominic, St. Catherine of Siena and Venerable Mother Francisca del Espiritu Santo de Fuentes, Siena College QC will always be vigilant in pursuing the goals of a truly Christian, Dominican, and Filipino education.
