St. Joseph's School – Pandacan

St. Joseph's School – Pandacan, Manila (SJSP) is a private parochial school operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila. It is located in the district of Pandacan in the City of Manila, Philippines, established by Cardinal Rufino Jiao Santos, D.D. in 1955 to provide a school that would enable the children of Pandacan and its neighboring towns an opportunity to receive good Roman Catholic oriented education.History of St. Joseph's SchoolThe collaboration of Cardinal Rufino Jiao Santos, the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (ICM), who were also planning to build a school in Pandacan, and Sto. Niño Parish Priest Guilermo Mendoza led to the establishment of St. Joseph's School's very first building at the adjacent vacant lot to the Sto. Niño Parish Church.The school's first few years saw the rapid growth in the population of the school, and in 1959, under the direction of Sister Marie Alice Dieltiens, ICM, the school's first principal, a new building was built for the high school level, which would admit only female students.The school's enrollment continued to grow, however, with some classes being held in makeshift classrooms in the Parish Office building. Thus, with the assistance of parents, the school was able to obtain a loan to build a new building. This annex to the high school building was blessed and opened on November 28, 1971 by Cardinal Santos with Bishop Bienvenido Lopez and Parish Priest Victor Serrano.