USJ-R unveils new building for senior high school

CEBU, Philippines — The University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) inaugurated a new six-story building in its Basak Pardo campus that holds 30 classrooms, seven laboratories, and other state-of-the-art facilities to accommodate the growing number of junior and senior high school students.

The building was formally opened on Friday with a ribbon cutting, blessing and unveiling of building marker and it was graced by Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma.

USJ-R President Father Cristopher Maspara of the Order of Augustinian Recollects described the inauguration of the Senior High building as a notable chapter to the institution as part of its commitment to provide quality education and holistic formation to students.

Maspara said the ceremony was held purposely on November 17 to fall exactly on the feast day of Nuestra Señora De La Salud (Our Lady of Health), to whom the building was named after.

The university wishes to dedicate the edifice in honor of the Marian title "to animate its pursuit for quality Christian community-oriented education" inspired by the charism of the Augustinian Recollects community and the values of its founder, St. Augustine.

Also, USJ-R commemorates this year its 70th founding anniversary since its establishment in 1947.

Engr. Neil Rom, project manager and USJ-R Campus Planning Office head, said the building sits on a 1,700-square-meter lot.

The total project cost was more than P250 million and construction lasted for one year and one month.

It stands in between two existing buildings, Our Lady of Consolation (elementary and high school) and St. Ezekiel Moreno (college).  The area was formerly occupied by the old canteen.

The new edifice has a canteen on the ground floor while the library and offices are on the second floor.

On the third floor are at least seven laboratories — Robotics, Speech, Math, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, and Earth Science subjects.

The top most levels (4th to 6th floor) are where regular lectures will be held.  The two floors hold 30 classrooms and can accommodate around 1,500 students.

It has a rooftop where Gymnastics and Physical Education classes will be held.

Administrators said the building was constructed as a response to the influx of senior high school students who chose to study at USJ-R.

Teachers said the existing senior high schools students used to occupy the unused classrooms in the main and Basak campuses.

At present, USJ-R has more than 2,000 senior high school students and the biggest chunk of the population is enrolled in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) track. (FREEMAN)