HISTORY
HISTORY OF BALARA HIGH SCHOOL
Balara High School (BHS) came into existence as an annex of Flora Ylagan High School in 1975. It was located within the compound of Balara Elementary School (BES) at H. Ventura Street, Balara Filters, Barangay Pansol, Quezon City (QC). The school site has a land area of 1,500 square meters leased by Balara Filtration to Quezon City Government from 1975 to 2013.
The school started with a two-story building with four classrooms. The officer-in-charge then was Mr. Barcena. There were only three teachers and ninety students under his supervision. The catchment area includes Kaingin I and II, Old Balara, Pansol and Damong Maliit.
Later, the school was turned over as an annex of Quezon City High School. There was a great increase in the number of enrollees then. It was for this reason that all the school heads assigned to the school worked hard for its expansion and its independence from the mother school. It was in September 1978 when the school was granted its independence under the term of Mrs. Luz De Guzman as principal.
In 1983, during the administration of Mrs. Armelita Casteltort, another two-story building comprising of six rooms was constructed. The building was later named after Hon. Adelina Rodriguez, former mayor of QC. After her term, Mrs. Purificacion Cruz (1983-1987) and Mrs. Corazon Fontillas (1987-1991) were assigned as the school principals. From 1985 to 1986, students held classes under a sampaloc tree and mango trees adjacent to the school. With this situation, Dr. Fontillas requested for an annex at Krus na Ligas to house the students to a more conducive learning environment. In 1993, under the leadership of Dr. Gil Magdanua, a three-story building was established. There were eight classrooms and three ancillary rooms used as principal’s office, library, and home economics practice house. The said building was donated by Hon. Anna Dominique “Nikki” Coseteng, District III Congresswoman. From 1993 to 1996, Dr. Consolacion Montano took the place of Mr. Magbanua. Her focus was on cleanliness and beautification of the school.
In 1996, Dr. Erlinda Leva worked for the construction of a two-room technology building through the Department of Public Works and Highways. She also helped the teachers establish a cooperative to augment the low salary of teachers. Mrs. Paz Viloria succeeded Mrs. Leva in 1997 followed by Dr. Josefina Pamplina from 1998 to 1999. The next school head was Mrs. Daisy Viernes (1999-2000) who worked on the improvement of the registrar’s office by compiling Form 18 in hard-bound folders. Mrs Nora Espiritu (2000-2001) and Mrs. Victoria Mortel (2003-2004) were the succeeding school administrators. Mrs. Celia Abiera, head of the Science Department, was delegated as the officer-in-charge before the term of Mrs. Mortel. In 2005 to 2006, Dr. Modesto Villarin was the school principal who started the computerization of school forms in the registrar’s office. From 2007 to 2008, Mrs. Cleotilde Fernandez, Principal II, took over. It was during her time that a grotto was put up.
In the year 2008, Balara Elementary School turned over an old two-room pre-fab building during the time of Mrs. Armeda M. Maestro, Principal II. It was also during her time that the fencing of the school was done through Mayor Feliciano Belmonte. After three years of usage, the old pre-fab building was demolished to give way for the construction of a four-story, eight-classroom building which was sponsored by Hon. Jorge “Bolet” Banal, District III Congressman. The building was requested by Mrs. Maestro but was inaugurated during the time of Mrs. Luvie A. Ocampo, Principal III. Mrs. Ocampo implemented the culture of excellence in academic disciplines. Guidance office, school library, clinic, TLE practice house, and other ancillary offices were rehabilitated. Classrooms were repainted and repaired to make them conducive to learning. Different subject areas were given centers for them to stay for collaborative sharing of expertise.
On November 19, 2013, Mrs. Maria G. Utanes entered BHS with high hopes to make the school globally competitive and to address the call of the Department of Education which is employability after high school; with which the administration felt just perfectly fit for the catchment areas of BHS that are depressed and underprivileged.
With all her enthusiasm, Mrs. Maria Utanes, Principal III has continued the legacy of Mrs. Luvie Ocampo. CCTV cameras were in areas where loitering students use as hubs. Surroundings were at its best with the flowery recycled-bottles which serve as pots in every building, the traditional TLE room turned into a modernized small villa for accommodation purposes for visitors. Old cabinets at the office were replaced with new and durable ones.
Succeeding Mrs. Maria Utanes was Mrs. Nimfa V. Bongaling on November 3, 2014. She immediately provided cabinets in the library, administration office, and TLE to make it more presentable and organized.
To ensure the safety of the students in the Banal Building, she put up additional grills at the stairs going to the third floor and the connecting roofing from the administration building to Rodriguez Building. She also revived the Youth Entrepreneurship and Cooperativism in Schools (YECS) for the students to give them a chance to experience being young entrepreneurs. It was also during her time that the Rodriguez Building was demolished to pave way for the construction of Banal Building II, named after Hon. Jorge “Bolet” Banal, District III Congressman, the sponsor of the construction.
On October 30, 2017, Mrs. Nimfa V. Bongaling turned over the school to Mr. Bonifacio D. Caculitan, Jr. who focused on instilling excellence among the teaching staff and implementing support services during his two years of service in BHS. These were manifested in the conduct of various projects and policies under his leadership such as the institution of pamayanan which aimed to develop a sense of camaraderie among the BHS staff and students through grouping them into different communities (e.g. Magalang Matapat, Busilak, Dalisay); reinstitution of the Official Alumni Association of BHS which has been in hiatus for five years; conduct of the Search for Outstanding Teachers in BHS which became a breeding ground for BHS teachers to be hailed as QC Outstanding Teachers; and support to the school’s student delegates to the Da Math Contest in the National Science Quest in which Sam Mahlia bagged 2nd Place, and to the 2019 National Schools Press Conference wherein Dave Andrew Martinez made a herculean milestone for BHS after bagging home two medals for winning 5th in editorial writing and 7th in column writing.
Currently, BHS is under the baton of Mr. Gilore E. Ofrancia, Principal III, who was internationally recognized during the 15th International ALCoB Conference in Vietnam Ha Noi in 2017. Mr. Ofrancia envisions Balara High School as a breeding ground for academically competent, community connected, and technologically advanced faculty and students. He wants BHS to be a trailblazer in District III. In less than a month as principal, he has ensured the safety of the internal stakeholders by ensuring that security guards will be around all twenty-four hours during weekdays and even on weekends. In less than a grading quarter, Mr. Ofrancia addressed the lack of wash area, untidy and slippery pavements, and upgraded monitoring of support services. At this juncture, Mr. Ofrancia oversees the construction of a two-story building which will house a new library room, E-BEIS nook, and an assembly area to ensure risk reduction and safeguard persons with disabilities.