Assumption College of Davao


The Assumption College of Davao is a private Catholic academic institution in Davao City, Philippines. It was established in 1958 by the Daughters of Mary of the Assumption or FMA. It is currently run by the Missionaries of the Assumption. Formerly named the Assumption School of Davao, it was renamed as the Assumption College of Davao in 1998 on its 40th anniversary.

History

When the local church of Davao was starting to rebuild and reorganize after the Second World War, Archbishop Clovis Thibault wanted the religious groups to take part in the reconstruction by establishing centers of learning in the archdiocese that would offer solid and formal education to children from all walks of life.
Acting on this invitation, two members of the Daughters of Mary of the Assumption, or F.M.A., Sr. Elodie Marie Richard and Sr. OvelineDoucet of Campbellton, New Brunswick, Canada came over. In obedience to their charism of the preferential option for the marginalized poor, the first school that the FMA organized after their arrival in 1954 was the Assumption School of Nabunturan in Compostela Valley Province. Later, it was called Assumption College of Nabunturan.
In 1958, on an "open, swampy and desolate" parcel of land in the suburb community of Agdao, the F.M.A. opened a city-based school, the Assumption Academy of Davao. The academy started its operation as an exclusive school for girls with elementary and high school departments. At the opening of classes, it registered a total of 170 enrollees, consisting of 84 elementary pupils and 86 high school students. The elementary offered only Grades I, V and VI with one section in each level. The succeeding years saw the expansion of its curricular offering to several levels of learning to meet the needs of the youth and the community. Soon after, it was granted permission by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports to open the college department in 1961. The college started with forty-four students who enrolled in the first year level. However, barely twelve years later it had to be phased out due to lack of teachers holding master's degrees, among other reasons. In 1964, it started accepting boys in the elementary. Three years later the kindergarten program was offered. In the next seventeen years, it had become a co-educational institution with students belonging to different social strata. Thus, additional structures had to be constructed such as the gymnasium. In 1976, the three-storey concrete building for the grade school was erected. Soon after, another two-storey edifice which housed the high school library and the administrative offices were built. More construction of facilities for academic and non-academic purposes followed. In 1978, the school was renamed Assumption School of Davao.

Programs and Degrees

Basic education

Preschool (Senior Kinder)

Grade school (Grades 1–6)

Junior high school (Grades 7–10)

Modified work and study program (Grades 7–10)

Senior high school (Grades 11–12)

Academic track
– Fish Nursery Operation
– Bread and Pastry Production
– Cookery
– Food and Beverage Services
– Front Office Services
– Housekeeping
– Computer Hardware Servicing
– Computer Programming
– Animation

College Programs

Day and evening classes

Queen of the Angels building

The Queen of the Angels building is a three-storey building that houses the preschool, grade school and some junior high school rooms. Facilities of this building include the speech laboratory, computer laboratories, restrooms, grade school audio-visual room, Home Economics room, Science laboratory and the library. Offices of the principal, grade school faculty room, offices of the grade school psychometrician and guidance counsellor are also located in the building.

Queen of Peace building

The Queen of Peace is a four-storey building that houses some junior high school and senior high school rooms. The junior high school faculty, academic supervisors' office, speech laboratory, biology laboratory, chemistry laboratory, physics laboratory, integrated science laboratory, home economics room, computer laboratories, the school clinic, high school audio-visual room, chapel, Human Resource Office, and the Community Extension Services coordinator's office are found in this building.

Queen of the Prophets building

The Queen of the Prophets is a five storey building that houses the office of the registrar, finance department room, college and high school libraries. This building also has a roof deck.

Queen of the Universe building

The Queen of the Universe building is a five-storey building and was inaugurated in 2016. It houses the senior high school rooms, home economics room, a senior high school library, office of the school president, external communications office, board room and the office of research and planning officer. It is also the school's first building which has restrooms for members of the LGBT community, and for the PWDs. The building also contains an auditorium, which is located on the rooftop.

Queen of the Apostles building

The Queen of the Apostles building is the tallest building of the school, used by the college department and its students for academic purposes. It contains rooms for college students, computer laboratories, hotel and restaurant management instructional room and other facilities needed by the students and professors.

Gymnasium

The school has a gymnasium used for school events and activities, programs, and sports.

Canteen and Convent

A building houses a school-operated canteen and the convent for the Missionaries of the Assumption.

Student life

Events and Programs

The Assumption College of Davao has been very active in athletics and has joined different athletic contests from the divisional, regional and even in the national level. The school is known for its excellence in sports, especially in basketball. ACD has joined in athletic meets, such as the Davao Association of Catholic Schools Sportsfest held every September, the Davao City Athletic Association Meet, the Davao Regional Athletics Association Meet, and the Palarong Pambansa.

Advocacies

Assumption College of Davao being part of CEAP took up the challenge to make the education relevant and responsive to community needs and social realities. With this, we aim to advance academic excellence alongside a strong social orientation and passion towards an education that transforms society. Its advocacies and stance on social issues is its imperative function to attain this challenge.
ACD formulated its own advocacies and programs in line with its rearticulated Vision-Mission-Goals and its Characteristics of the Assumptionist. These are incorporated into its curriculum across key learning areas. ACD's transformative educational agenda are aligned to its vision of a society that is just, humane, nationalist, democratic, peaceful, faith motivated, and interconnected with the totality of God's creation. The identified advocacies impart with our students social responsibility as a core practice in our education so that they can develop both the passion and the skill to help transform society into one that is genuinely democratic, productive, sustainable, peaceful and just.

Women at the helm

Sr. Elodie Richard, fma
Sr. Lorraine Gallant, fma
Sr. Lourdes Abapo, fma
Dr. Ma. Iris A. Melliza
Mrs. Ma. Mercedes P. Buduan
Sr. Concepcion P. Gasang, m.a.
Sr. Aurea E. Quiñones, m.a.
Sr. Milagros L. Gimeno, m.a.
Sister Eufrocina Bandigan, m.a.
The current ACD President is Sr. Marietta B. Banayo, m.a.