PAREF Southridge School

PAREF Southridge School
Motto	Viriliter Agite Be a Man!
Established	1979
Type	All Boys
Affiliations	Opus Dei
President	Dr. Vaughn F. Montes
Principal	Luis Barrientos Primary School Ivan dela Fuente Intermediate School Luis Sumulong High School Michael Matias Afternoon School
Chaplain	Rev. Fr. Francisco Aniban
Executive Director	Jose Maria A. Magalona
Students	1,099
Grades	Prep, Grades 1-7, HS I-IV, AS I-IV
Location	Hillsborough Subd. Bo. Cupang Muntinlupa City, Muntinlupa, Metro Manila, Philippines
District	Muntinlupa
Oversight	Opus Dei
Campus	Urban, ~3 hectares
Colors	Blue and Green
Yearbook	Viator
Newspaper	The Junior Ridge GS The Ridge (CMMA Hall of Famer for Best HS Paper) HS
School Hymn	Gaudeamus Igitur
Supervising Organization	PAREF (Parents for Education Foundation)
Website	www.southridge.edu.ph
GS—Prep & Grade School; HS—High School; AS—Afternoon School

The PAREF Southridge School, also known simply as Southridge, is a private school for boys in Hillsborough, Muntinlupa City, Philippines. It was a set up by the Parents for Education Foundation (PAREF), a group of parents who aims to provide an education geared towards the total development of children. Southridge school is composed of grade school, high school, and afternoon school. Its executive director is Jose Maria A. Magalona. The spiritual formation of the families in Southridge is provided by priests of the prelature of Opus Dei.

The Southridge Logo

The Southridge Logo consists of a Vinta and a Helm. The vinta, a sturdy Filipino boat, is the PAREF symbol. It stands for the educational philosophy shared by all the schools that belongs to the PAREF system.

The stars on top of the vinta represent the three (3) sectors that comprise the PAREF school community. For the PAREF philosophy to work, there must be a healthy interaction among the parents, teachers and students. For formation to be effective, the parents and teachers must be formed such that they can lead the students by word and deed.

The helm symbolizes the school's vision of breeding gentlemen and leaders. Quoting the school's vision, "We envision graduates who are MEN OF INTEGRITY, well-formed and principled individuals, who contribute to the common good of society."

Academics

Latin

Southridge is one of the few schools in the Philippines that requires its students to learn Latin. When the school was first built, the curriculum included 4 years of mandatory Latin during the high school years. This requirement has since been changed and Latin now only two years of Latin are required. In addition, an elective known as Latin Honors allows students who wish to continue learning the language to do so.

Electives

In 2004, Southridge began an elective system that allows high school juniors and seniors to choose two subjects of their interest. Currently the subjects that are available to students are Business Math 1, Business Math 2, Biochemistry, Environmental Science, Investigatory Science, Latin Honors, Rhetoric of War, Programming Language, Journalism, Creative Writing, and Metaphysics. This system allows four different subjects to be taken in a span of two years that will help the student decide on his college course or prepare the student for college if he has already decided on a particular major.

By S.Y. 2009-2010, electives are no longer allowed to both Juniors and Seniors.

Organizations

Vocal Ensemble

The Southridge Vocal Ensemble (SVE) is the high school choir of the Day School. It is made up of 1st to 4th Year students and is currently managed and conducted by Adrian Bagayaua.

The SVE was established by Bagayaua in SY 2010-11 after he replaced Mr. Robert Cortes. The group won 13th place out of 27 at the 13th Annual Voices in Harmony competition on September 25, 2011, and 6th place out of 12 at Musikapella on October 2, 2011.

Photoclub

The Photoclub was established by members of the class of 2006 (Miko de los Reyes, Miguel Reyes, Benj De Leon and Luigi Meer) for Southridge students interested in photography. Seminars and workshops are also arranged for the club's future members.

Catalyst

The Catalyst is a club that teaches catechism. Open to high school students, the club members visit Cupang Elementary School and Buli Elementary School weekly to teach Grades 3, 4 and 5 students basic catechism lessons. Members undergo training during Catechism seminars organized during the school year.

The Podium

The Podium is Southridge's official debate team, and considered one of the best debate teams in Southern Metro Manila. A member, co-founder, and stalwart of the Southern Metro Manila Schools Debate Consortium (SMMS), the Podium has consistently improved over the past years and has become a perennial contender for any debate championship in the South. The Podium has also been improving and has earned great respect in the more competitive IDeA Debate Organization of Northern Manila and in the National Debating picture of the Philippines.

The Southridge Ecological Assiociation

The Southridge Ecological Assiociation or S.E.A. for short, is Southridge's premier ecological and scientific club. It has represented the school in a number of outreaches and seminars held in and around the vicinity of Metro Manila.

Student Leadership

An important aspect of the Southridge vision is to breed leaders and gentlemen, who are men of integrity, in order to contribute to the common good of society. Since the school's foundation in 1979, elections are held every year within the Grade 7 to 3rd Year High School student voting population. Candidates from such levels campaign for student government positions namely, Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, PRO, and 2 Members-at-Large posts. This is the Southridge Student Council. For many years, the Southridge Student Council has been an active catalyst in school especially in the organization of projects for the interest and development of the school community. It is the body which serves as a bridge between every member of the school community, and most especially representing the students.

The Student Council for School Year 2010-2011 is composed of Gabriel Castillo as Chairman, Mac Valdez as Vice-Chairman, Aldo Manzano as Secretary, Rafa Abaya as PRO, Chucky Quemado as Treasurer, and Faisal Tabusalla and Julian Ferrer as Members-at-Large. This group was able to successfully organize Fathers' Day 2011: "The Day of D'ADmirals", the first ever Southridge Run and The Southridge Big Brother Freshmen Senior Bonding among other events and they established the Southridge Dance Crew, Admirals Step Crew and the Southridge Drumline. The highlight though of this council was the birth of Southridge's mascot, The Admirals which was established on the 26th of August, 2010. The name was coined by Jeggy Filart of Batch 2011.

According to Batch 2011's Aldo Manzano, The Student Council for School Year 2010-2011 is the greatest council of PAREF Southridge to date.^{[citation needed]}

Opus Dei affiliation

Southridge entrusts its religious instruction to the priests of Opus Dei. St. Josemaria Escriva is among its venerated saints, along with St. Joseph and St. Michael.

Alumni

Southridge has produced many successful alumni. They vary from fields of music, the arts, business and many other prominent roles in society. Some who are in government office are: Jayjay Suarez, Governor of Quezon; Paolo Javier, Congressman of Antique; Roman Romulo, Congressman of Pasig; Anton Lagdameo, Congressman of Davao del Norte; Bullet Jalosjos, Provincial Board Member of Zamboanga Del Norte; Don Bagatsing, City Councilor of Manila; Mitch Cuna, City Councilor. Several Southridge alumni in the recently Southridge batches are now studying in prominent schools in the United States. Some alumni in the entertainment field include Gabe Mercado (Pinoy Ikaw Ba 'to? host/comedian), Noni Buencamino (actor), Franco Mabanta (host/Myx VJ), Manu Sandejas (Studio23 Digital Tour host), Robbie Joseph & Ikey Canoy (Akafellas), Paul Yap (UpDharmaDown), Tutti Caringal (6CycleMind/Protein Shake), Chino David (Silent Sanctuary), Miguel Escueta (singer), Javi Bagatsing (UFC host), film/video directors Timmito de los Reyes, Mik Vergara, Mackie Galvez, and commercial models Michael Park, Jose Sarasola, Marco Manalac, Rocky Camus, Ryan Villa-Real, Jose da Silva, Avery del Rosario, Mikee Morada, Karl Vargas and Martin Moises E. Estrella(CEO of Squares), model known as Miguel Torre and actor Jake Cuenca. Some of the alumni are now teaching in their alma mater.

External links and Students

• PAREF Southridge School official website
• The Ridge
• David Racho, Southridge Batch 1995
• The Latin Honors 2006 Website
• Southridge Creative Writing Center
• Opus Dei

Class Websites

• 5B Best Bets
• 5C Website!
• 6A Website
• IA Website