Republic of the Philippines

Rafael Palma Elementary School

Schools Division Office - Pasay City

By Hiyasmin V. Felix

Rafael Palma Elementary School conducted the annual State of the School Address  (SOSA )  for the School Year 2023-2024,  on September 15, 2023. Mark Anthony F. Familaran, EdD, delivered his first SOSA as the new principal of the school.

Donning in Filipiniana, teaching and non-teaching staff were in full force as they were introduced by Sir Mark to the attendees. Present were SPTA officers, parents, representative of barangay officials and other stakeholders.

Salient points were presented starting from the Report Card. The school basked on the Level III of the SBM. However, a decrease in the enrollment from SY 2021-2022 was noted. This was attributed to the transfer of residency as the aftermath of COVID 19 pandemic. Availability of books per grade level was also discussed with Grade III level had the highest available textbooks with 98.55%. It was also presented that there were enough toilets for the learners. On the other hand, a lack of 108 seats and two classrooms were identified. A  total  of  22 teachers handled the seven grade levels having a mono grade classes.  Grade IV got the highest percentage in Phil IRI both in English and Filipino with 22.42 and 47.14 respectively. On a happy note, Sir Mark emphasized the winnings that the school won in Journalism, Sports and other school related contests reiterating that RPES belongs to the Small School category. He also added that the school achieved a Zero dropout from SY 2020-23.

Furthermore, he encouraged the teachers to continue their quest for further studies as only 24 out of 28 or 50 % of the teaching force have Master’s Degree units. Funding wise, the biggest contributor was the Local Government Unit amounting to Php 48,488,792.00. Individual Private Partner was identified as the highest contributor among the private stakeholders. Sir Mark ended the SOSA with a report on the Annual Implementation Plan (AIP) with a total of seven proposed projects for the current school year. Four of which were completed and the remaining three were either on the proposed status or cancelled.  He then thanked all the attendees and encouraged everyone to be more vigilant for the sake of every RPES learner.

Karen I. Maceda, Master Teacher I, presented the school calendar for SY 2023-24 and delivered also the closing. After which, the parents were instructed to proceed to the classrooms for the breakaway group and engagement with the advisers of their children.