SM donates new school building to Tarlac

SM Prime Holdings, Inc., through SM Foundation, turned over its 74th school building donation to the San Francisco Elementary School in Tarlac on May 6. The two-storey, four-classroom school building came fully furnished with 200 armchairs, 16 wall fans, eight blackboards, four teacher’s table and chair sets, four toilets and four wall clocks.

“We are truly grateful to SM Foundation for their generosity in sharing their blessings for the benefit of our school children,” School Principal Romeo Torno said. “The students will have a better environment for learning that will inspire them and even make them enjoy their studies. There is no way to fully express our gratitude. We at San Francisco Elementary School are indebted to SM for their generosity to our students.”

Torno added that the school building will be occupied by grade one and grade four students this upcoming school year.

The San Francisco Elementary School was established in 1950 to support the education of communities in Concepcion, Tarlac. Since 2013, the school has been implementing the Department of Education (DepEd)’s Special Science Elementary School Project which focuses on developing children who have keen interest and exceptional abilities in Science and Mathematics.

Parent Teacher Association President Almarissa Samaniada expressed her gratitude to SM Foundation. “Malaking tulong ang bagong school building sa pag-aaral ng mga bata upang maging mas maginhawa ang kanilang pag-aaral. Nawa’y lalo pang maging matagumpay ang SM Foundation upang mas marami pang mag-aaral ang inyong matulungan,” she added.

SM Foundation Executive Director for Education Linda Atayde said that the new school building is part of its support to DepEd’s initiatives in addressing the shortage in public school classrooms.

“With the donation of school buildings, SM Foundation has improved the quality of education by providing an environment conducive for learning that has increased student attendance, improvement in test scores as well as boost the morale of the teachers,” Atayde said.

Since 2002, SM Foundation has already built 74 school buildings with a total of 224 classrooms nationwide.