The School

The desire to contribute to the Christian formation of the youth brought the CICM Missionaries to Sudlon, Maguikay, Mandaue City in March 1969. In response to the request of Julio Cardinal Rosales, they established a Catholic high school under the guidance of founder Fr. Wilfried Daels, CICM.

Fr. Daels supervised the construction of the school building and headed a team of less than 20 personnel that took charge of the first batch of 38 boys, who had initially enrolled at the St. Joseph's Academy. Although it was only partially finished, the school building was blessed by Cardinal Rosales on August 22, 1970. By then, there were 151 students in the high school: 103 in first year and 48 in second year.

The following school year, 1971-1972, the Bureau of Private Schools officially recognized Saint Louis School of Mandaue as a separate entity from the boys' department of St. Joseph's Academy. Its status was no longer limited to an all-male student population so from then on, SLSM, as it became popularly known, started accepting female students. On the same year, a scholarship foundation was established to help needy students finish their secondary education, and a lay person started serving as school principal. Since then, the Principal of SLSM has always been a lay person.

The next few years saw the construction of several structures in response to the needs of a growing school population and the demands of providing quality education to the youth. On September 1977, the construction of the gymnasium started. It was finished the following year, but it was only in 1986 that the concrete bleachers were added. The Administration Building was finished in June 1980, the Home Economics Building in May 1987, and the male teachers' dormitory in 1988. The north side building, which was annexed and named after Fr. Wilfried Daels, was blessed by Ricardo Cardinal Vidal on October 1, 1992.

Like a deeply rooted plant, Saint Louis School made it through every rain and storm. It has now fully blossomed into a huge tree whose branches continue to spread in every direction. In the beginning of school year 2003, under the supervision of Fr. Arturo Arnaiz, CICM, the school underwent a major transformation. The offices, laboratories, and library were simultaneously renovated. Towards the end of the school year, the long-held dream of having an elementary department became a reality.The construction of the two-storey canteen and the ground floor of the elementary building began and in June 2004, both edifices were blessed.

The pre-elementary department officially started in the school year 2004-2005 with 267 nursery and kindergarten pupils. The construction of the second and third floors of the elementary building continued until its blessing in March 2005. In the school year 2005-2006, grades one to six were opened and started to serve over 900 students. In the school year 2007-2008, as the CICM commemorated the centenary of its missionary presence in the Philippines, a new school chapel named the SLSM-CICM Centennial Chapel was constructed and blessed on August 8, 2007.

Today, Saint Louis School of Mandaue has become a huge community. In less than 40 years, the population has increased to more than 2,700 students coming from Mandaue, Cebu, and neighboring towns. The student population is growing every year, served by a dedicated staff of over a hundred teaching and non-teaching personnel.

Thanks to the CICM Missionaries' presence, the Saint Louis School of Mandaue has been recognized as an outstanding academic institution in the city. Its teachers and students have also obtained awards for outstanding leadership, while several alumni have ranked within the top 10 of professional licensure examinations in the country. During the last local elections in May 2007, an alumnus from Class ‘82, Jonas Cortes, was elected Mayor of Mandaue City. Saint Louis School has come a long way, indeed.

The construction of the College Building started in 2010 and this was finished and blessed in 2011. The school started operating as a College in School Year 2011-2012 with Fr. Pedro M. Peñaranda, CICM as its first President, followed by Fr. Gilbert B. Sales, CICM as its second President in 2012-2013, and starting this school year 2013-2014, Fr. Fernold G. Denna, CICM the newly installed President, will be serving hopefully for several years in the educational apostolate of the CICM here in SLC-C.

With the guidance of the Lord, and the inspiration of the Blessed Mother and our school’s patron, Saint Aloysius de Gonzaga, Saint Louis College-Cebu continues to journey towards excellence through a vibrant, transformative, Catholic education for all with the able support of its administration, faculty, office and service personnel, students, parents and alumni. God bless Saint Louis College-Cebu.

Prepared by: John Benedict B. de Leon & Joseph De Rueda