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Don Bosco Academy once stood in Bacolor Pampanga, Philippines.

A 4th class municipality in the province of Pampanga, Philippines. During the British Occupation of the Philippines, it became capital of the exiled government of Governor General Simon de Anda y Salazar from 1762 to 1764. It was the former capital town of Pampanga until the provincial seat of government was transferred to neighboring City of San Fernando in 1904. When it was capital of the Philippines, the provincial offices were temporarily moved to Factoria (now San Isidro, Nueva Ecija). The town was completely buried under several feet of lahar from Mount Pinatubo, with the most devastating flow covering the town center in 1995. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 16,147 people in 3,029 households.

sources by wikipedia

Over the last 30 years the graduates of class 77 high school have gone a long way, we made this site possible hoping to reach our fellow classmates and other Bosconians as well . We want to keep the spirit of Don Bosco alive as our Alma Matter.

After learning that our school has been transfered to Mabalacat due to the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, most of us felt that the history of our school has ended. Most of the properties were sold to a private Company… This decision to sell the property created an overwhelming disappointments by other Salesians (mostly the Italian Priests) since they said it is a part of history and properties like this one must not be sold but to acquire more..

Remembering Our Alma Mater:

Images from lahar aftermath…

Many people from this town who lost their homes and properties due to the occasional flow of lahar during the rainy seasons since the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991 fled to other municipalities and resettled there through the help of the provincial and national governments. Bacolor with a population of 77,255 has twenty one barangays.

Inside the Chapel

The Grotto viewed from afar…

The Gym

Don Bosco Bacolor Early History:

courtesy of DBA77

Founding

Rev. Fr. Godfrey Roozen, SDB, founded Don Bosco Academy at Bacolor, Pampanga in 1958. but his efforts began much earlier when Msgr. Guerrero, then Bishop of San Fernando, Pampanga invited him to open a Salesian House in the diocese. Initially, Fr. Roozen was given the use of St. Ferdinand Academy at the town proper but this proved to be disadvantageous. Funds for the school were insufficient and non-paying students proved to be difficult to handle, thus ending the existence of the school after a year.

Fr. Roozen continued to stay in San Fernando, seeking out new areas for a school. The persistent founder was offered a second site and this too proved to be difficult when tenants of the land expressed disapproval to put up the school. For two years, Fr. Roozen continued his search until he met Don Pedro de Leon who offered a five-hectare land just beyond the western section of San Fernando. The year 1958 saw the rise of the first building consisting mainly of the chapel and some classrooms. The school began with the elementary offerings for Grades 5 to 6; and year 1 to Year IV for high school. By 1960, Don Bosco Academy commenced with the graduation of 36 pupils for elementary education and conferred certificates for its first batch of high school graduates. The untiring efforts of its founder had been realized. The impetus for future Salesian work and mission have begun.

Development

The following years saw an ever-increasing enrollment of students that paved the way for the construction of more buildings and facilities. The curriculum offering expanded for the elementary level to add Grades 3 to 4 for primary education. In 1962, a fourth edifice was added to form the two-story Juniorate or Salesian School for Minor Seminarians, significantly the seedbed for many future Salesian Fathers and Brothers in the Philippines and the missions to other countries. By 1963, a huge gymnasium was built to house the sports and cultural facilities of the school. In less than a decade a young school exclusively for boys, seminarians and out-of-school youth flourished rapidly to meet the growing interest in the charism of Don Bosco.

The fame of Don Bosco Academy grew in the years that followed, leading to further expansion of facilities, curricular innovations, and enrollment to a point when the school had to regulate admissions into the school. Don Bosco became noted for its discipline, religious formation and good academic education. Moreover, changing directions in Philippine Education propelled the school to seek new ideas and trends for academic development. Curricular changes in both elementary and secondary education were adopted, teacher training and development a regular milieu for re-learning and new learning.

The 1980’s and the early 1990’s saw and outstanding Catholic school for boys in Don Bosco Academy. Together with such popularity came the devotion to Mary Help of Christians whose motherly love is inspiration to many youth and families in the province. Evangelization was not limited to the school’s paying students and aspirants of the Juniorate. Many out-of-school youth and those from nearby public schools were recipients of Christian formation, sports, education and financial assistance. Distinctly, the Salesian Fathers and Brothers had made their mark in the recent history and development of Pampanga.

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