# APEC Schools

APEC Schools is a chain of private high schools based in the Philippines. It is one of the subsidiary schools of iPeople, the merger of the education businesses of Ayala Corporation and Yuchengco's House of Investments. APEC Schools currently has branches across Metro Manila and Calabarzon regions.

## History

APEC Schools was established in 2013 through a partnership between Ayala Corporation and Pearson's Affordable Learning Fund. Its first branch started with 130 students. In 2016, with the passing of the K-12 law, APEC Schools started offering the ABM (Accounting and Business Management) academic strand for Senior High School.
In 2019, Ayala Corporation and Yuchengco's House of Investments signed and sealed their merger adding APEC Schools to the group of premier universities and colleges such as Mapua University, Malayan Colleges Laguna, Malayan Colleges Mindanao, Malayan High School of Science in Manila, National Teachers College, and University of Nueva Caceres. During the same year, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) academic strand was offered in selected sites.
In 2020, APEC Schools has over 10,300 students in its more than 20 branches.
In 2022, APEC Schools started offering HUMSS (Humanities and Social Sciences) academic strand which is offered in selected sites.

## Educational programs

APEC Schools offers Grade 7 to 12 (Junior to Senior high school) programs under the K–12 program set by the Department of Education.
The school prepares its graduates for either higher education or employment through English mastery, technology immersion, and connection with employer partners. Students have access to tablets and Chromebooks which they use in their classes.

### Academic strands

Accountancy, Business, and Management (ABM), Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), and Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS) are the available academic strands for Senior High School students.

### LifeLabs and Accelerated Career Experience

LifeLabs and Accelerated Career Experience are APEC Schools-exclusive subjects. LifeLabs lets the students solve community problems and find solutions in the whole semester period through interviews and research. Accelerated Career Experience gives the Senior High Schools students a real-life working experience through APEC Schools' partner employers.

### Online learning programs

In SY 2020–21, in response to the quarantine brought about by COVID-19, APEC Schools launched the APEC Agile Distance-learning program (Grades 7 to 12). APEC Agile is a teacher-led learning program that has the ability to shift from online learning to blended learning to face-to-face learning. APEC SmartClass, on the other hand, is a parent-led 100% online homeschool program with regular support from Subject Matter Experts and Course Coordinators.

### Separation of SmartClass from APEC Schools

From the start of SY 2023–2024, SmartClass was branded as being independent from APEC Schools. In the previous school years, it was branded as being under APEC Schools, with a name of "APEC SmartClass". Currently, it is named "NTC SmartClass", with APEC Schools and NTC being named its "sister" schools. It mainly uses Google Education and Google Workspace tools as its main system.