Ilocos Sur National High School - ISNHS

The advent of the American period saw the growth of primary schools offering free education in the whole archipelago. This was an offshoot of 1901 Act No.74 of the Philippine Commission installing a highly centralized public school system. Necessarily, this ushered the need to train primary school teachers. So in 1902, the Ilocano Normal School was established through Act No. 372 of the Philippine Commission.

The school's early beginnings are traced to the old Vigan Seminary, where the first batch 10 male and 3 female students attended classes. The strict moral norms then dictated the segregation of the sexes so that there were two separate classes. Co-education was eventually introduced when student attendance dwindled. No requirements were imposed upon those who wanted to enroll before a system of grading and classification was introduced in 1904.

In the course of time, a growing enrollment prompted the construction of a new building, which now houses the Doña Gregoria Rivera Memorial Library. The building which was finished and inaugurated on February 22, 1905, housed the first public high school in Ilocos Sur, the Vigan High School. It took the school six years, however, to establish a second year class in 1908. Subsequently, twelve students became the first graduates of the school in 1912.

With the continuous increase in population, a bigger area was needed. The provincial government in the late 1920s acquired eight hectares of land at the West side of the town of Vigan. On this place, the school found its permanent home in the form of a concrete structure in 1930. But even as a permanent location was found, the now Burgos East Elementary School building was still utilized as an annex for high school students up to the early sixties. In 1932, the name Vigan High School was changed to Ilocos Sur High School.

The purchase of an additional lot in 1953 led to the expansion of the school area. In 1958, a new structure called National Heroes Memorial Building was added. The pork barrel of then Congressman Floro Crisologo, an outstanding alumnus of the school, made this possible.

The school is known today as the Ilocos Sur National High School. The late Congressman Floro Crisologo authored RA 3974 in 1964, thus elevating the school to its national status. In recognition of his contributions to his Alma Mater, the Congressman was presented a plaque on January 17, 1967 during the time of Mr. Macario Festejo as principal.

For about 25 years since its beginning, the school was tax-supported. Those times, the first Philippine Commission, the Schurman Commission, recommended free education. The Insular government paid for the teacher's salaries and equipment expenses. However, financial support was eventually discontinued. Consequently, the provincial government had to collect tuition and other fees starting in 1932 to finance school operations. The earliest recollection of tuition fees was P2.50 per year in 1936 and through the years, the fees increased due to the rising cost of education. On September 9, 1985, the annual tuition fee of P70.00 and matriculation fee of P2.00 respectively, increased to P150.00 and P5.00 as per regional DECS Memo 64. However, charging of the fees was discontinued since the implementation of the new 1987 Philippine Constitution that mandated a system of free public education in the elementary and high school levels.

In 1941, classes were suspended when the Japanese invaded the Philippines at the outbreak of World War II and eventually occupied Ilocos Sur on December 10. These were resumed in June 1943, only to be aborted in December 1944 due to lack of student attendance. Classes finally took off in May 1945. Students who were then in their senior year in December 1941 were considered graduates and comprised Class 1942. Those in the lower years were promoted to the next year level and were not required as well to complete the three months of schooling they missed during the war. The first batch of students to finish high school after the war graduated in 1946.