Butuan receives 1st school building from SM PRIME through SMFI

Butuan receives 1st school building from SM PRIME through SMFI

SM school building at Villa Kananga Integrated School in Butuan City.

SM Prime, through SM Foundation, is set to officially turn over a fully furnished, two-story- four-classroom school building to Villa Kananga Integrated School (VKIS) in Butuan City. This will be the first SM school building in the city.

The SM-donated school building will be equipped with school furniture and the necessary amenities such as armchairs (including left-handed armchairs), a teacher’s desk and table, wall fans, panoramic whiteboards, wall clocks, a washroom with a flush toilet in each classroom, ramp for Persons with Disabilities (PWD) and a spacious PWD washroom with flush toilet.

​Butuan receives 1st school building from SM PRIME through SMFI

Inside of an SM school building classroom

In his message, VKIS Principal Carlito Nietes said, “Through this new set of classrooms, I am confident that the learners, SPED class, Kinder 1, Grade 5, and Grade 6 students who will be using these rooms will have a better learning environment. The new facilities will be conducive for their studies.”

“I would like to extend my gratitude to SM Prime Holdings and SM Foundation who have worked hard to build the school for us. Your commitment and dedication are very vital in supporting your grateful beneficiaries, our students and teachers,” he ended.

April Ann Bernabe, former principal of VKIS said that the SM school building will be able to address the projected increase in enrollments of the school.

“The new school building increases the classroom-student ratio of VKIS,” she stated.

VKIS started as a primary school in the late 1950s.  The residents felt the need for the establishment of a barrio school. The name of the school was derived from the Manobo word “Kananga.” It refers to the sweet-scented flower, Ilang-Ilang, which is lavishly growing within the area.

SM Foundation School Building Program is an active partner of DepEd in the Adopt-a-School program. It is a Social Good initiative of SM Foundation that aims to promote quality public education by building classrooms nationwide.