St. Joseph School – La Salle

St. Joseph School-La Salle
File:St. Joseph School-La Salle seal.png Faithful Servants of the Community
Address
Fr. Gratian Murray St., Villamonte, Bacolod City Philippines
Information
Type	Private, Lasallian high school
Established	1960
President	Br. Antonio Cesar J. Servando FSC
Staff	99
Number of students	1,574
Campus	Urban, 1.3 hectares
Color(s)	Green and White
Nickname	SJS-LS Knights
Hymn	De La Salle Alma Mater Hymn
Website	www.sjslsbacolod.org
SJS-LS Golden Jubilee Logo

St. Joseph School-La Salle (SJS-LS) is a Lasallian school located in Bacolod City in the Philippines. It is the third of the third generation of La Salle schools, which were founded by the De La Salle Brothers in the country, which include: La Salle Academy-Iligan (Iligan, Lanao del Norte: 198), La Salle Green Hills (Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila: 1959), and De La Salle Lipa (Lipa City, Batangas: 1962).

History

St. Joseph's High School (SJHS) was established in 1960 to accommodate the graduates of the Immaculate Conception Free School, which was a charitable primary school that was jointly run by the De La Salle Brothers and the Young Ladies' Association of Charity. Br. Francis Cody FSC sought the assistance of the benefactors of the Immaculate Conception Free School in the establishment of a De La Salle Secondary School.

The school was established on a 1.3-hectare lot adjoining the Free School, which was donated by Alfredo Montelibano, Sr. to the De La Salle Brothers. The school opened with forty-five graduates of the Free School and charged minimal fees. Bacolod's affluent families shouldered the construction of the classrooms, library, science laboratories, work education building, as well as other financial needs. The school then went on to serve graduates of both the Free School and the Barrio Obrero Elementary School in the succeeding years. In 1966, the Brothers decided to open an adult night high school to serve the needs of adults who earned their income during the day but still wanted to pursue their education.

In the 1960s Negros Occidenal province faced a recession, decreasing the financial support given to the Brothers. This forced the Brothers to gradually phase out the Free School, which was shut down by 1971. The teachers, however, were retained to teach in the high school. In that same year, SJHS adopted a co-educational system.

Saint Joseph's High School grew slowly because only a small number of funding agencies and foundations were aware of the fact that SJHS is one of the district school's of the De La Salle Brothers.

Adoption of a new name

For the past few years, the school's stakeholders have been in discussions about changing the name of the school, in light of the fact that its name did not elicit recognition. The school's stakeholders thus proposed that the school adopt the name St. Joseph School-La Salle to signify its full membership in the Lasallian family of district schools in the Philippines. Beginning schoolyear 2005-2006, St. Joseph's High School formally adopted the name, St. Joseph School-La Salle.

The word "high" was chosen to be excluded from the school's new name because of the possibility of future development such as the establishment of a grade school or other departments. The Brothers and the Board of Trustees have also been correcting the impression that the school would be charging higher tuition fees because of the inclusion of "La Salle" in its name.