Dear Parents and Guardians,

After two school years of online learning, you likely have acquired a new vocabulary of terms associated with new learning modes. To add to your glossary is the term FLEX, which embodies more than the learning methodology and the technology that we will employ at the start of this coming school year as we transition to a fully onsite set-up, as mandated by the Department of Education in their Department Order 034 series of 2022.

Given the need to adapt to these shifting learning methodologies, you are invited to also see the term FLEX as the overarching philosophy behind what learning will be in the post pandemic world.

More and more, the learners and everyone else involved in the formation of the Atenean will be called to exercise more flexibility, to be ready to iterate, and to take some risks, especially now that there are really no risk-free options given our swiftly changing landscape. As you read this, there may have been a number of changes in response to the unpredictable circumstances in the COVID situation.

Remember that we were in this situation before when we transitioned to online learning in AY 2020-2021. We knew that we had to build the proverbial bridge in order to get to our destination, yet we managed to show how capable we were in the face of rapid and unforeseeable changes.

Looking ahead, the Ateneo de Manila Junior High School will address these challenges through its Ateneo Blue Cloud initiative and its Flex Modality. These structures provide an opportunity for the school to adjust to the demands of the times while continuing to further its vision of holistically forming its students in the 5 Cs: Competence, Compassion, Commitment, Conscience, and Christ-Centeredness.

This learning companion merely provides a view of what is to come. It provides a sense of comfort in what is predictable, which enables us to prepare better. Keep in mind, however, that the ones who always emerge triumphant are those who are not easily cowed by uncertainty. Hence, we extend to you the same invitation last year and the year before – to be companions in this unexpected voyage. As the saying goes, “Embrace uncertainty. Some of the most beautiful chapters in our lives won’t have a title until much later.”