Jack & Jill School is a former

preschool A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an school, educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they ...

and

elementary Elementary may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Elementary'' (Cindy Morgan album), 2001 * ''Elementary'' (The End album), 2007 * ''Elementary'', a Melvin "Wah-Wah Watson" Ragin album, 1977 Other uses in arts, entertainment, an ...

institution, which was located in Homesite and City Heights in

Bacolod Bacolod, officially the City of Bacolod (; ; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Negros Island Region in the Philippines. With a total of 600,783 inhabitants as of the 2020 census, it is th ...

, the capital of

Negros Occidental Negros Occidental (; ), officially the Province of Negros Occidental (; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Negros, Negros Island. Its capital is the city of Bacolod, of which it is geographically s ...

province of the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. Informally referred to by its

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

"JJS", it was a private,

non-sectarian Nonsectarian institutions are secular institutions or other organizations not affiliated with or restricted to a particular religious group. Academic sphere Many North American universities identify themselves as being nonsectarian, such as B ...

educational Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education also fol ...

institution with an enrollment of more than 600 pupils. The out-of-town branch was located in Magsaysay St. in

Victorias City Victorias, officially the City of Victorias (; ), is a component city in the province of Negros Occidental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 90,101 people. Victorias is notable for the St. Joseph the Worker C ...

. It was one of the few institutions in the country where

Karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

was part of the school curriculum; Karate was included in

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

class all year round. The school closed in 2023, after 60 years of operation, due to falling enrollment.

History

Jack & Jill School was founded by Cecilia del Castillo-Lopez as a

in 1963. She converted her living room into a classroom and started teaching to 23 boys and girls from the small neighborhood of Homesite. In 1979, Jack & Jill Kinder School in Homesite expanded to include an

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

. A few years later, another

branch in Victorias was opened in 1981. The year 1995 resulted in the simultaneous establishment of Castleson High in Homesite, Castleson High in City Heights, and Sidera Special Child Center in City Heights. In the next year, Castleson High Schools in Homesite and City Heights were merged to become one school located in City Heights Subdivision. Throughout Jack & Jill School's history, other branches in Airport, La Granja, Paglaum, and La Carlota were also opened and later closed. School year 2013 will celebrates Golden Jubillee Year in Jack and Jill School-Homesite in Bacolod City. Karate is the famous game in the school.

Closure

After 60 years of service to the community, Jack & Jill Schools and Castleson High Schools permanently close their doors on June 30, 2023. Due to the reverberating effects of the pandemic, management indicated the insurmountable burden on its finances despite a swift conversion to online classes and intensive teacher training. Dr. Muriel Lopez-Wagner, president at the time of closure, stated that they have been grieving the loss of Mrs. Cecilia del Castillo Lopez since 2020 as well as feeling the distress as they watched the decrease in enrollment year after year. "I think several significant factors led to the ultimate financial collapse, where the only way out was to sell a building", said Lopez. At the same time, she expressed her deepest gratitude to hundreds of parents, students, alumni, teachers, staff, and loyal supporters who will always carry the Jack & Jill trademark and love. School staff prepared for a smooth transfer of their current students to other schools.

Administration

Cecilia del Castillo-Lopez oversaw the schools' financial affairs until her death in 2020. Her daughter served as President while her grandson served as Vice-President of Finance and Administration. The Director of Academic Affairs oversaw all schools and provided support in terms of curriculum and resources. The school year 2010-11 marked the transitional year when Mrs. Lopez relinquished the decision-making tasks to the president and the current director.

''Up the Hill''

''Up the Hill'' is a student run newspaper that provides opportunities for student writers and was a creative medium for students to showcase their poems, essays, writings, and drawings in English and Tagalog languages. Today, the school publication continues to flourish and has won many journalism awards around the country. *

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

DepED Editors Guild of the

* Regional English Circle –

Western Visayas Western Visayas (; ; ) is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines, numerically designated as Region VI. The region comprises the islands of Panay and Guimaras Island, Guimaras. It consists of five Provinces of the ...

Department of Education (Philippines) The Department of Education (DepEd; ) is the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for ensuring access to, promoting equity in, and improving the quality of basic education. It is the main agency tasked to manage and g ...

DepED achievers in Division, Regional, National Schools Press Conferences and Golden Pen Awards. * Victory at NSPC by Sofia Isabelle Ortiz Grade 6-Batch 2008 The ''Up the Hill'' Staff has produced a number of winners and outstanding writers from division,

regional In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

up to

nation A nation is a type of social organization where a collective Identity (social science), identity, a national identity, has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, t ...

al level competitions under Rhazel E. Mengullo as school paper adviser. Captured two national awards in Sports writing by Aljenica Marie Apostol and

Photojournalism Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

by Sofia Isabelle Ortiz during the 2000 and 2008 National Schools Press Conference (NSPC), the highest competition of writing in the country recognized by the

. Six first placers during Regional Schools Press Conference (RSPC) in different events likewise recipients of five Golden Pen Awards, four outstanding writers and outstanding journalism mentor awards in

. It has been awarded three times as DSPC Overall Champion and two times as overall champion in Regional Cluster writeshop and Golden Pen Awards. Grand prize winner of 2nd Regional writing and public speaking tilt.

Karate

- do was part of its curriculum wherein pupils from Grades 1-6 are required to join the training as part of their

Physical Education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

(P.E.) activity for the whole year round at JJS Campuses. Team JJS Karatedo is the home of Super Karate Kids in the Negros Province was initiated by sensei Randy Mengullo, a Sandan Blackbelt in

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

- do attended the 13th KOI Karate World Cup and Training Camp participated by 25 nations. JJS Karate Team KFS garnered medals in many karatedo championships and athletic meet of different schools and karate organizations in the Philippines.''JJS Karatedo rules NOPSSCEA events''
Viasayan Daily Star
, 2008''POF-Visayas,
Visayas Champion
, 2nd POF 2007 ''JJSKarate'' adapt

Shotokan is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi (1868–1957) and his son Gigo (Yoshitaka) Funakoshi (1906–1945). Gichin Funakoshi was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing "karate do" thro ...

style, affiliated to national association of Philippine Karatedo Traditional & Sports (PKTS) and member of

Philippine Karatedo Federation The Philippine Karatedo Federation N.S.A., Inc. (PKF-NSA) is the governing body claiming jurisdiction over the sport of karate in the Philippines. Background The Philippine Karatedo Federation was a member of the World Karate Federation until ...

the governing body of

sport karate (; ; Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) under the influence of Chinese martial arts. While moder ...

in the country. Official training center of Milo Sports Clinic. JJS Homesite and City Heights are members of Negros Occidental Private Schools Sports Cultural Educational Association (

NOPSSCEA The Negros Occidental Private Schools Sports Cultural Educational Association (NOPSSCEA) is a voluntary association of private institutions in Negros Occidental, Philippines that organizes athletic, cultural, and educational programs of many pr ...

) and one of the founding schools that organized the Karatedo event since school year 2005 as part of the NOPSSCEA regular sports annually. It was also a founding member of Negros Occidental Karatedo Federation (NOKAF) in the 2000s (decade). Aside from NOPSSCEA, the Karatedo Team participates in the PKF Regional and National Championships, Mayor's Cup of Hon. Evelio Leonardia and Monico Cup Regional Championship, the PSC grass roots program Ang Batang Pinoy, Philippine National Youth Games, Philippine Olympic Festival, UMA-ONEBA Presidential Cup, Philippine Sports Commission-Philippine Olympic Committee Tournaments and athletic meet of different schools in the Philippines.''JJS karatedo team overall champ,
Viasayan Daily Star
October 4, 2005

Gallery

File:Up The Hill Staff of JJS.jpg, Golden Pen Awards Overall champ File:NSPC Trophy.jpg, DepEd NSPC National Winner File:PKF Winners.jpg, PKF National Winners File:POF National Championship.jpg, POF National Winners File:Razhel Gee.jpg, National Gold Medalist File:JJS Dojo.jpg, Team KFS-JJS Karate

References

External links

Sunday Inquirer Magazine: "Life Lessons from Karate" By: Sensei Randy Mengullo

TEAM JJS Championship Fight Video. Player: John Blisse Del Castillo (aka/red belt)
{{Private schools in Bacolod City Schools in Bacolod Educational institutions established in 1963 Educational institutions disestablished in 2023 Private schools in the Philippines 1963 establishments in the Philippines