Tarlac Montessori School

Tarlac Montessori School
Location
La Puerta del Sol, Hi-Land Subd. Tarlac City Philippines
Coordinates	15°28'25.7"N 120°36'47.0"E
Information
Former name	Little Angels Montessori School
Type	Private school
Motto	Educare Liberos Pro Vita (Latin) (Educating Children for Life)
Religious affiliation(s)	Catholic Church
Established	1987
Founders	Dr. Elizabeth Teotico-Asiaten, Danilo Canlas Asiaten
President	Danilo Canlas Asiaten
Director	Dr. Elizabeth Teotico-Asiaten
High School Principal	Dr. Steve Noel L. Dayao
Gender	Co-education
Campus type	Urban
Color(s)	Green   yellow   white
Newspaper	The Hark (High School), The Junior Hark (Elementary)
Website	TMS.FB

Tarlac Montessori School (commonly referred to as TMS or Monté) is a private catholic school established in Tarlac City, Philippines in 1987. It is named after the physician and educator Maria Montessori.

Tarlac Montessori School offers co-educational kindergarten, elementary, junior high school, and senior high school programs. TMS offers a Special Science Class (SSC) for grades 1-12.

TMS undergraduates follow a Catholic-rooted curriculum throughout their programs and hosts Wednesday Novenas and First Friday Mass in the mornings that they are scheduled. TMS also celebrates Catholic holidays and the feast days of saints.

Tarlac Montessori School was and still is managed by its directress Dr. Elizabeth T. Asiaten and her husband, Tarlac Board Member Danilo Canlas Asiaten.

History

Tarlac Montessori School entrance, front parking slots, and soccer field

Tarlac Montessori School was established in 1987 at its first site at Masagana Building, F. Tañedo Street with its initial enrollees of 30 pupils in Nursery and Kindergarten. After a year, the number of enrollees doubled. In 1989 the school transferred to M.H. del Pilar Street with 180 enrollees and Grade One level was added. That same year, TMS held the first Stepping Up Ceremonies.

The next year, TMS opened the San Sebastian extension building to address the growing population of the school. In 1991, the San Sebastian building expanded having another wing; the school added a grade three level with a total of 328 enrollees. It was in the same year that the government granted recognition for its preschool department.

A year after, the San Sebastian extension building expanded into a two-storey building for it added the grade four level with a total of 394 enrollees.

In 1993, TMS joined for the first time the TAPSA Academic, Literary and Musical Competitions where they won second place with only grade four and grade five contestants.

To accommodate the rapid growth of population, TMS constructed a new school building at a two-hectare lot in La Puerta Del Sol Hi-Land Subdivision in 1995. It was in the same year that it had the first grade school commencement exercise with 21 graduates.

It was in 1996 that the new school building was inaugurated, opening the High School Department with 38 first year students and 13 second year students. The total school population then was 755 and the first PTC was organized; in the same year TMS humbly produced their official magazine called “The HARK”.

In 1998, TMS hosted TAPSA and became the Overall Champion in the elementary level, which coincided with the establishment of the TMS Boy Scout Movement, and the heart of the student body, the Student Council.

In 2005, the school was granted Government Recognition No. 05, s. 2011 to offer the Special Science Curriculum in the First Year level. In the next 16 years, the school continued to celebrate its excellence by joining and winning numerous competitions which made TMS one of the brightest schools in the region.

In 2012, TMS celebrated its 25th anniversary as an educational institution which is a proof of its undying service to God and society. In 2015, the school was granted permission to offer the Special Science Curriculum for Grade One.

At present, TMS continues its tradition of excellence and legacy by innovating methodologies, techniques, and strategies that attempt to face the challenges of the fast-changing world. Having God as its model of excellence, TMS continues to glorify God by continually educating children for life.

In 2016, the K to 12 Senior High School Grade 11 was implemented under the Government Permit SHSP No. 178, s. 2015. Additional six classrooms on the right wing of the building were constructed.

The school is currently applying for ISO 9001:2015 certification.

Academics

Programs

Tarlac Montessori School offers programs at the kindergarten, elementary, and secondary levels. The secondary level comprises junior high school and senior high school. Its academic offerings include the Basic Education Curriculum (BEC) and the Special Science Curriculum (SSC) at the elementary and junior high school levels. An incoming Grade 1 student can take a test and be offered and SSC section. A person in the SSC must maintain a grade of 85 or higher for major subjects (English, Math, and Science) and a grade of 83 or higher for minor subjects. All incoming students will also take the test again in Grade 7, including those previously in the curriculum in Grade 6.

In 2016, TMS opened its senior high school (Grades 11 and 12) program with the following strands: Accountancy, Business and Management (ABM), Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS), and Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).

Student organizations

There are 8 accredited student organizations in Tarlac Montessori School. These are the Common Denominators' Guild (also referred to as the Math Club), Supreme Student Government (commonly abbreviated as SSG), Debate Society, TMS Chorale, Eco-Warriors Club, The Hark (the official publication of the institution), Technology Club, and the Tarlac Montessori School Scouting Movement.

Notable people

Leo Aquino was a frequent contender in the University of the Philippines Extemporaneous Competition, taking the first place during his junior years in the Pataasandiwa twice and competing in the Patalasanlahi both times when he was in eighth and tenth grade (2016 and 2018 respectively). He once again won for Pataasandiwa during the year 2019 in 2nd Place, but as the Senior High Department in Tarlac would not participate in the Patalasanlahi during that year, he was not able to participate. He was also the third student of Tarlac Montessori School history to qualify for the Ateneo Junior Summer Seminar of 2019, where he studied in the Ateneo de Manila University from April to May. He also served as the chairman of the Debate Society for two consecutive years.

Mark Cortez has won and scored highest in the Metrobank-MTAP-DepEd Math Challenge three years in succession (won from 2017-2019, scored highest from 2018-2020). He has represented Tarlac Montessori School in the Rotary Club's New Generations' Week and served as Tarlac City's 1st Councilor for one work week. Additionally, he competed in the 2018 University of the Philippines (UP) debate competition, Patalasanlahi.

Moses Ocampo was most especially known for his public speaking abilities. He was one of TMS’S longest serving Radio Broadcasting English Anchors (2014-2019), having participated thrice in the National Schools’ Press Conference between 2016-2018, and is repeatedly awarded as best anchor from TCPEIA to Regional levels while also attaining 5th Best Anchor of the Philippines in 2016. Moses has also served twice as the Deputy Prime Minister of the Montessorian Debate Society from 2017-2019, winning the best speaker award in UP Sandiwa 2018 and fighting to UP Sanlahi 2019. He is also an active emcee for Montessorian events, with his biggest hosting being the Rock-Rockan sa TMS Dos and the Mr. and Ms. Montessori 2018. Ocampo is also the first Montessorian to attend the up and coming Eugenio Lopez Junior Center For Media Arts Senior High School in Quezon City.

References

Villa, Benjie (2004-08-20). "Tarlac scout a toast in S. Korea jamboree". Tarlac City. The Philippine Star. Retrieved 2019-11-27.
Santiago, Carl Andre (2019-05-14). "SWA Discovery Workshop (Tarlac Montessori School)". Tarlac City. Scout.org. Retrieved 2019-11-27.