The Official History of the Brothers House Program Do you really want to know how the Magic began?

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An artist’s renderring of the actual coffee shop in Iloilo City where the Brothers House Program was hatched.

The concept of the Brothers’ House Program in La Salle Academy was given birth at a tavern in the bustling City of Iloilo in the island of Panay in the summer of 2004. Okay, it was not a tavern, but a little coffee shop just outside of the downtown area, where a La Salle Brother and his former student (a lady graduate of St. Joseph School – La Salle in Bacolod City) met one evening for a chat to update each other about how life was going along for each of them.  Eventually, the conversation led to a discussion on hopes and dreams for the school the lady loved most, her high school Alma Mater. She proposed to the Brother a secret dream of setting up a program where all the students will be divided into Houses and have certain activities together just like in the movie, Harry Potter. Its main  purpose was to make a big community feel intimate through projects, activities and goals that each member of the House can work on together to complete or to achieve. It did not seem quite impossible, thought the Brother. Armed with some additional bright ideas of how to make something from fiction come to life for the benefit of the students, teachers and support staff, the Brother drew up a plan based on that tête-à-tête. He shared this with the lay administrators of the school and all of them felt that this concept of community building was worth a try. Thus, in June 2004, the Brothers House Program dawned in St. Joseph School - La Salle.

Three years later, on the island of Mindanao, La Salle Academy was ready to embrace a similar set-up, hoping to achieve the same goals. What was once a figment of a wild imagination became a reality. And that reality was in reality, magical.

La Salle Academy is a Lasallian school located in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte, Philippines. It is the first of the third generation of La Salle schools founded by the De La Salle Brothers in the country, which include:  La Salle Green Hills in Mandaluyong City (1959), Saint Joseph School-La Salle in Bacolod City (1960), and De La Salle Lipa in Lipa City (1962).  La Salle Academy is a basic education unit composed of grade school, high school and the night high school departments with a student population of roughly about 2,800 and teachers and support staff numbering 120. It is also noteworthy that La Salle Academy occupies unique niche among the Lasallian District schools in the Philippines.  It is a Catholic school that also caters to a significant number of children of Muslim families. (close to 20% of the student population). Given that the school has a relatively big student population, it is quite possible that there is little interaction among the different major departments and even among year or grade levels. It is also important to note that being a school for children and teens, the present students are commonly at an age that relating to peers is at a very active phase.  This can mean that in each one of them, there is a need “ to belong.”  Also, according to the adult members of the school, what they value much in this institution is the strong community spirit that has been present dynamically in so many years.

Though today LSA is a known simply as an “educational institution”, the preferred manner of relationships has been one that has a welcoming, personal and supportive touch. Thus, having in mind one important aspect of the Mission Statement of LSA – “equipping the students with a balanced knowledge in all areas of scholarship in the light of the Gospel and engaging everyone in the community in a living relationship of communion” the Brothers House Program takes on the ASPIRATION that “the School Can Become a Home.” Through the following OBJECTIVES, each House hopefully intends to:

An objective of the House Program is to encourage each member to seize the opportunities to develop self-confidence, talents and skills.

The Headmaster and the Council of Overseers a brief description of the organizational relationships This is the highest position in the Brothers House Program is the Headmaster. This is usually, in the case of La Salle Academy, the Brother President. Final rulings and the granting of points to the Houses for their standing in the competitions are responsibilities that lie solely in the hands of the Headmaster. He presides over matters brought forth to his attention concerning the House Program. Before a school year is to begin, he chooses the House Couples assigned to each House. The Headmaster is to be assisted by the Council of Overseers (CoO). For the inaugural year, the members of the Council of Overseers are the Brothers assigned to La Salle Academy. After this, and upon the will of the Headmaster, a CoO will be formed composed of adults (non-Brothers) who will be recommended by the House members and approved by the Headmaster. Each member of the CoO has a “neutral status” in terms of House affiliations for the duration of the school year. Essentially, the CoO is composed of four adults who shall act as a neutral consultative and executive body of the Headmaster. Specifically, the CoO oversees the design, revision and implementation of the over-all program plan of activities, delegates, mediates and officiates in the competitions, and advises the Headmaster.   The most incorruptible and highly-respected adult House member may be recommended to the Headmaster to be part of the CoO and shall cut his or her personal ties with the House of origin for that particular school year. La Salle Brothers may also be assigned to form part of the CoO in any school year.