FOR the coming school opening, SM Prime Holdings through SM Foundation would turn over seven schoolhouses nationwide in an effort to help the government improve the quality of public-school education through the Adopt-A-School Program. The schoolhouses are located in Pampanga, Bacolod City, Davao City and Baguio City.
 
The schoolhouses in Pampanga are in Sapalibutad Elementary School in Angeles and Mabalacat Community High School in Mabalacat, Pampanga. In Bacolod, the schoolhouses are those in Vista Alegre Granada Relocation Elementary School and Alangilan National High School. In Baguio, the schoolhouses are in Irisan National High School and Pinsao National High School, while the schoolhouse in Davao is in Tugbak Annex High School.

Like all SM blue schoolhouses, the new schoolhouses have complete classroom facilities including blackboards, desks, teaching aids and complete toilet facilities. While construction of the school buildings are undertaken by SM Prime Holdings Inc., the task of maintaining and handing these over to the Department of Education (DepEd) rests on SM Foundation.

Construction of nine more schoolhouses are currently being undertaken by SM Prime Holdings and will be turned over to the DepEd within the year: two in Taytay, Rizal; two in Batangas (Lipa and Nasugbu); two in Rosales, Pangasinan; two in Naga, Camarines Norte; and one in Dasmariñias, Cavite.

The Adopt-A-School Program of the DepEd aims to address problems in education infrastructure, decreasing quality of education, poor health and nutrition of schoolchildren and teachers’ training and development.

The program has attracted many entities from the private sector whose contributions include infrastructure and physical facilities and donation for learning support, teacher training and development, and technology support to education, health and nutrition.