Siena College, Quezon City

Siena College of Quezon City is a private, sectarian, non-stock educational institution located in San Francisco del Monte, Quezon City, Philippines. It was established in 1959 by Dominican nuns.The school offers tertiary education with degrees of Tourism, Business Administration, Hotel and Restaurant Management and Religious Education. It also offers pre-school, elementary, and secondary education.

History of Congregation

Francisca de Fuentes was born to Don Simon de Fuentes of Spain and Doña Ana Maria del Castillo y Tamayo, a Spanish mestiza in the City of Manila in 1647. Francisca grew up to be a fine lady; and she was given in marriage to a gentleman who, by the inscrutable design of God, did not live long, leaving her a childless young widow.

Francisca then dedicated her time to prayer and social service helping many poor and sick in the city. In a vision in which she saw St. Francis and St. Dominic, she prostrated herself before St. Dominic. Because of this, she chose to be a Dominican, being admitted as a tertiary in 1682. She chose the name “Francisca del Espritu Santo.”

In 1686, Francisca, Antonia de Jesus Esguerra, Maria Ana de Fuentes (blood sister of Mother Francisca), and Sebastiana Salcedo requested that they be allowed to live together in a life of prayer and the practice of the virtues while continuing their social apostolate. After a brief hesitation, their request was sent to the Master General of the Order of Preachers in Rome, who approved it on January 11, 1688.

Meanwhile, the erstwhile Director of the Third Order, Fr. Juan de Santa Maria, who favored the request of the ladies, was assigned to Bataan, and Fr. Juan de Santo Domingo was assigned in his place. The new Director was against the project and the proposal was laid aside. Mother Francisca and her companions were deeply dismayed, but Mother Sebastiana prophesied that although she and Mother Antonia would not live to see it, the Beaterio would be a reality.

Mother Francisca was progressively maturing spiritually, and her desire for serving the needy grew more and more. The desire for the realization of the Beaterio also grew more intense so that one day, after confession, she opened once more the subject to Fr. Juan de Santo Domingo, and she got scolded for her “impertinence.” But bravely, she told Fr. Juan with a tone of prophecy: “Father Prior, the beaterio will be established, and Your Reverence will see it.”

Fr. Juan de Santo Domingo was enlightened and became one of the powerful supporters of the Beaterio project. Under his direction, Mother Francisca and her companions lived at first in the house of Mother Antonia de Jesus Esguerra who had by then died.

On the feast of St. Anne in 1696, the Beaterio was formally established with Fr. Juan de Santo Domingo, then Provincial, presiding and on this joyful occasion, Mother Francisca was appointed first and founding Prioress for life. The first community consisted of Mother Francisca, Mother Maria del Espiritu Santo, Mother Juana de la Santisima Trinidad, Mother Lorenza de Jesus Maria, and Mother Rosa de Santa Maria. The community was placed under the patronage of St. Catherine of Siena, and was accepted in the Provincial Chapter of 1698.

But their joy was not to last very long, for in 1703, Manila Archbishop Don Diego Camacho wanted the Beaterio under his jurisdiction. The conflict grew until Archbishop Camacho excommunicated Mother Francisca, and put the other Sisters under interdict. To avoid scandal, the beatas removed their habits and with the help of the Governor General and counsel from the Dominican Fathers, they went into “exile” at the Santa Potenciana College, there to stay for over two years in what is called the Beatas' “Babylonian Exile.”

Mother Francisca suffered the most under these grave trials, but with heroic courage, she and most of the sisters increased their religious fervor and continued to live faithfully their religious life hoping for the day of victory.

Since part of the opposition against the beaterio was a question of finances, very valuable help came from a lay Dominican Tertiary, Don Juan de Escaño y Cordova, who in 1704 assured the Beatas an annual subsidy through the Dominican Province of the Holy Rosary of two thousand pesos – a considerable sum in those days.

The time of triumph came in 1706 when after some negotiations, their former opponent Archbishop Camacho changed heart and began to show himself sympathetic to the Beatas. With the help of the Governor General and the Dominican Sisters, Mother Francisca and her Sisters returned to their original home, having, donned once more their Dominican habits, there to live under the rule set for them as beatas, with a few added features of their religious life as prescribed by the Archbishop. The permit from the Archbishop is dated 26 March 1706. With Mother Francisca at the time of their return were 15 Sisters including a novice, and in addition, there were lay Sisters and a girl who eventually donned the habit. It was in the same year that the Beaterio became a Beaterio-Colegio which admitted Spanish girls, “mestizas” and natives, instructing them in the 4 R's – Religion, Reading, Writing and Arithmetic with Music, Embroidery, Flower Making, etc.

The major trials having passed, Mother Francisca continued with even greater ardor her pursuit of spiritual perfection for herself and for her spiritual daughters. Like the brave and strong woman that she was, she governed the beaterio with great prudence and fidelity to the Rule, making the Eucharist the sublime center of the community's spiritual life. To do this, in the absence of a Chapel for the Blessed Sacrament in the Beaterio, she importuned, against many difficulties, the Fathers of San Juan de Letran College, and to build a corridor connecting the Beaterio to the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in the Church of Letran. As always, her prayers eventually prevailed.

Worn-out physically by her perpetual acts of mortification, and her continual struggle to secure the solid establishment of the Beaterio, she became ill and was suffering with heroic resignation and humility for several months, edifying everyone with her extraordinary spiritual life. And on the feast of St. Bartholomew on 24 August 1711, she was born to eternal life, leaving behind her the living witness to her love of God and neighbor – the Beaterio de Santa Catalina de Sena which lives vigorously as ever up to this day as the Congregation of Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena.

History

At the opening of school 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 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 of 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 Department adopted the innovative program called the Individualized Group-Guided Education or the 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, a strong interest on the part of the administration and staff to apply for accreditation was aroused. The educational council of the institution unanimously approved the plan.

The school year 1977-78 marked a more thorough and rigid operational self-survey using the PAASCU (Philippine Accrediting Association of School, 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, the Grade School and the High School Department, 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. The program is the CS-SD (Catholic Schools System Development) program. A 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 Christs 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 formal adoption by the Congregation. The program, as adopted, came to be known as the OP-SSSDP (Order of Preachers-Siena Schools System Development Program). The Congregational Council on Education facilitated its implementation.

In October 1982, the three departments of Siena College underwent the first CEV or the Congregational Evaluation Visit, 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. In February of the same school year, 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 Department had its re-accreditation visit in August 1983 and was also given a five-year accreditation status. The three departments again passed the re-survey visits during the years 1994-95 and 2000-2001 successfully. Being a member of PAASCU is a recognition and an acknowledgement of the school's commitment to quality education.

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. Guided by the ideals of St. Dominic and St. Catherine of Siena, the school will always be vigilant in pursuing the goals of a truly Christian, Dominican and Filipino education.

External links

* [http://www.siena.edu.ph/ Siena College of Quezon City] official website
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sienaqcgs/] - grade school 1960-up
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SienaCollegeClassof68/] - high school (?) batch 1968
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sienaqc71/] - high school batch 1971
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/siena76/] - high school batch 1976
* [http://asia.groups.yahoo.com/group/Sienanigans77/] - high school batch 1977
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/siena78/] - high school batch 1978
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SienaGradeSchool73-79/] - grade school batch 1979
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sienaclass79/] - high school batch 1979
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sienaqcgs80/] - grade school batch 1980
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sienasilverjubilarians/] - high school batch 1980
* [http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/SienaCollege1981/] - high school batch 1981 col-break
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scelembatch82/] - grade school batch 1982
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/siena83/] - grade school batch 1983
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/siena_qc-hs83/] - high school batch 1983
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sienacollegeqcbatch85/] - high school batch 1985
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SCQCBatch86/] - grade school batch 1986
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SienaGS87/] - grade school batch 1987
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gradesch88/] - grade school batch 1988
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Siena89/] - grade school batch 1989
* [http://www.sienahs89.net/] - high school batch 1989
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scgs90/] - grade school batch 1990
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sienaqchs1992/] - high school 1992 col-break
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scqchs93/] - high school batch 1993
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scqc_94/] - grade school batch 1994
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scqc94/] - high school batch 1994
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/siena_kyusi/] - batch 1994
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sienaqcgs95/] - grade school batch 1995
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scqc_hs95/] - high school batch 1995
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/siena-qc96/] - high school batch 1996
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SienaQC_Pasaway97/] - high school (?) batch 1997
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/XTINCTO2/] - high school batch 1997
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/siena_qc_hs1998/] - high school batch 1998
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proud2b_sienans99/] - batch 1999