USLS Supervised Schools
Historical Background
The De La Salle Brothers’ supervision began informally as far back as 1954. Brothers doing “supervision” during the early days were just performing “individual apostolates”. Although significant and very memorable to beneficiaries of such a ministry, the initial attempts were very informal. In fact, there were three attempts to set up an office for the De La Salle Supervised Schools prior to 1995 – one was in 1963, in the then La Salle College – Bacolod, intended for the hacienda-supervised schools. The second was in De La Salle University on Taft Avenue, Manila, then spearheaded by Br. Thomas Cannon FSC. The third attempt was in 1991, with Br. Narciso Erguiza FSC at the Provincialate in La Salle Greenhills. While the establishment of these offices was a by-product of the existence of schools being assisted in many different areas, the Brothers’ attempts have continued through the years. These schools and their very running evolved into a ministry long-recognized in the entire Lasallian community.
Based on recorded history, the supervision of schools by the La Salle Brothers recognized the efforts of Br. U. Alphonsus Bloemen having accepted the invitation to supervise the school intended for the children of employees of the refinery in Limay, Bataan in 1960. Br. Andrew Gonzales FSC confirmed this fact in his working paper, Towards a Management Model for the Supervised Schools, published in 1982. It further added that it was La Salle Green Hills which “entered into that agreement”, and that Br. U. Alphonsus was the school’s first supervisor. The supervision was very informal and in 1967, the school was offered to the Brothers but after an exploratory visit by the Brothers, the offer was declined.
In Similar fashion, one of the first schools supervised by the Brothers residing then at La Salle Bacolod was Immaculate Conception Free School (ICFS) in Villamonte. Villamonte was named Barrio Obrero and was the center where workers from nearby haciendas converged and formed a community. The ICFS was established in 1949, through the efforts of the Young Ladies Association of Charity (YLAC) through its founding president, Miss Lydia Lizares, but was only directly supervised by the Brothers, although informally too, in 1954. The actual area allotted for the school was a one-and-a-half-hectare land donated by the then governor, Alfredo Montelibano. It started as a tie-up between the YLAC with the supervision of the La Consolacion Sisters, prior to 1954 and in 1960, when its name was changed to St. Joseph’s High Schoo, Br. Gratian of Mary (Murray) FSC was placed at the helm as its first school director/supervisor. St. Joseph’s High School is now St. Joseph School – La Salle, a District School.