In 2016, the K-12 program took us on a journey to new territories. Unexpected, unfamiliar, and unwelcome. It cart wheeled past our comfort zones and forced us to make drastic changes in our educational system. Here at Emilio Aguinaldo College, we started on a rocky terrain but we were able to face the challenges with a variety of approaches.

We started Grade 11 with less than 800 students, and looking back on that period, we remember how we struggled from day to day, from crisis to crisis until eventually the glimmers of inspiration and insights that we needed came at the right time. We are fortunate that we have Dr. Lino C. Reynoso, a principal whose experience and vast knowledge endowed us with the ability to maneuver safely through the maze that we call the Senior High School. Under Dr. Reynoso’s stewardship, we have learned how to fine tune the inner instinct that have guided us in the two years since the Senior High School has descended in our midst.

Our first Grade 12 graduates are now navigating their way through college life, armed with the knowledge of the constants and variables that we patiently taught them. It is our hope that their journey will bring them new opportunities and new invitations to see what the universe has in store for them.

Today, the new batch of Grade 11 (1,451) and Grade 12 (924) students are trooping to our classrooms, making a grand entrance to this Mecca of education. I have always been moved by the energy and excitement they generate, but now something is a little different. Looking at this horde of students, I have a whole new perspective on the power and potential reach of the Senior High School.