Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
Third Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 6432

Introduced by Representative Jonathan A. Dela Cruz

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Everest Academy Inc. is the first Catholic international school in the Philippines
and is part of a worldwide system of over 220 Catholic schools in 20 countries. The
schools in this network are founded, owned and operated by Regnum Christi, a Catholic
movement composed of lay people and priests from the Religious Congregation of the
Legionaries of Christ. The first work of apostolate of the Regnum Christi was a school in
Mexico City called the Cumbres Institute (Cumbres is a Spanish work for the Peaks or
the Heights), which opened in 1954, Everest Academy Inc. is the first Regnum Christi
School in Asia, and reports to the Regnum Christi headquarters in Rome.

All the Regnum Christi schools follow the educational philosophy and method
‘developed by Regnum Christi and the Legion of Christ known as Integral Formation”,
the development of all aspects of the student’s personality; the intellectual, human,
spiritual, and apostolic, dimensions of the whole person.

Integral Formation®, allows students to develop their full potential according to
his or her unique gifts and talents, as mature, youth of character and integrity, authentic
leaders, who live according to the Gospel values, leaders in the community, home, work
place, and Church who have a genuine concern for others.

As an educational principle of Integral Formation”, leadership training, at all
levels from Kindergarten to high school, fosters in students a social responsibility
towards others. Students are led to become responsible and compassionate leaders with
the ability to recognize and identify the needs of their fellowmen, to understand how to
solve problems and to implement solutions for the good of all members of society.

This unique pedagogical approach focused on holistic formation is achieved
through faculty teamwork, low student-to-adulvteacher ratio and personalized attention.
While the Catholic Church emphasizes integral formation in all Catholic schools, what
makes Everest Academy and all Regnum Christi schools unique is the manner by which

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Integral Formation is carried out and applied in order to successfully develop well-
rounded individuals. RC schools have a comprehensive education program designed to
achieve integral formation among all its students which is distinct from the basic
methodologies prescribed by the Department of Education, These essential principles of
Integral Formation® are offered through a highly specialized international team of
religious, administration, faculty and staff for the formation of well-rounded individuals.
Mentoring, allows the team to get to know the students over the course of their school
years as well as their families. With a personalized and team approach, students come to
know their strengths and talents, and to build on these, while overcoming their
weaknesses.

Further, as the foundation of the student’s integral formation, students are
personally guided in their spiritual development. Daily access to the sacraments, and
opportunities to grow in the spiritual life coupled with character formation; developing a
disciplined will; learning to be master of oneself, acquiring virtue; formation of the
conscience; and adherence to moral principles and values. This is achieved in a nurturing,
joyful, Christ-centered environment that promotes respect, healthy peer relationships,
friendships and a family spirit

Overall the best elements of academic excellence, worldwide educational
practices and research, and of both the progressive and traditional approaches are
combined to develop the intellectual ability in our students; to enable them to understand
and form opinions and to act positively on the challenges of the times; to be competitive
and to know the truth; and to be able to face and resolve complex circumstances. The
objective is to ensure that the students as exceptionally well-formed leaders are fully
competent and effective in their professional or vocational field and prepared for a highly
globalized society.

‘As an asset to the Philippine educational system, this proprietary system of
Integral Formation® which has delivered excellent results in over 20 countries in the
world was brought to the Philippines through Everest Academy Inc.

Since its opening in Manila in August 2007 and in order to prepare the students to
face the challenges of the future in a globalized society, Everest Academy Inc. has been
implementing an international curriculum developed and licensed by National
Consultants for Education, an organization based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. This
international curriculum was developed encompassing the highest educational standards
in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. It allows our typical student to develop as
a person who is highly qualified and ready to successfully enter into university life and
later scale the heights of professional life

With an emphasis on academic excellence and leadership skills, this international
curriculum allows for a solid in-depth and high level of intellectual preparation that goes
beyond the acquisition of knowledge to arrive at an intellectually mature person. This is
fundamental to the integral development of our students and required by the social
responsibility they have. This curriculum was developed in accordance to the Regnum


Christi educational mission in the preparation of our students as leaders in a globalized
world village, global citizens, with the capacity to renew society.

Students acquire a wealth of knowledge, the underpinnings of their own national
culture, history and western ideals; a firm grounding in accelerated math and the
sciences, the scientific method, and in technology, all of the STEM subjects. This is
balanced and enhanced by the study of the humanities, foreign language, music, and the
fine arts, Our athletics along with extracurricular clubs and events, allow students to
explore personal interests and develop new skills and talents. Athletics are an important
means for preparing students to maximize character and leadership skills, a spirit of
personal and team effort, healthy competition, and sportsmanship.

Communication skills are a vital part of this international curriculum and
emphasize an ability to think logically; speak and write clearly, coherently, precisely,
attractively and persuasively. Students develop exceptional thinking, reasoning and
communicating skills which are built upon a keen sense of perception and a sharp
memory; @ capacity for reflection and imagination; as well as those technological and
inquiry skills intrinsic to the exact and social sciences’ a critical mind that can tell right
from wrong, fact from fiction, and truth from opinion. Students achieve and experience
ease in public speaking, debate and declamation.

Everest Academy Inc. follows intemational standards and further uses
international methods of evaluation and standardized testing to prepare them to qualify
for universities abroad, particularly the United States. This includes the administration
of the Stanford 10 a widely used and rigorous norm referenced test published in the USA.
It is implemented from kindergarten through twelfth grade. Student progress is analyzed
annually, both individually and by class to improve student learning.

High school students are prepared with the SAT and the ACT. The SAT is the
Scholastic Aptitude Test, a standardized test for college admissions in the United States
It is published by the College Board. The ACT is the American College Test, a
standardized college entrance exam. Each of these evaluation tools provide a measure of
our students’ progress in relation to their international counterparts abroad allowing for a
competitive preparation

At the High school level, Everest offers Honors level and Advanced Placement
(AP) courses as means to academically challenge our students and to prepare them to
successfully enter university and college levels locally and abroad. These classes
challenge the more advanced students and allow them to work at a pace that is
appropriate for their learning ability and style

Honors courses are taught at an above-grade level standard and require above-
average academic performance, application and aptitude in the subject areas. Advanced
Placement courses are structured as college-level courses and are more rapidly-paced and
cover a greater depth of content. Admission to an AP course requires proven high-level


academic performance on behalf of the student, above-average aptitude and student
application and dedication.

Course electives are offered that allow students to extend and explore their
specific interests and talents, Students may specialize in STEM, Humanities, Fine Arts, as
a means of pursuing their post-secondary education choices.

Everest Academy Inc. also has international accreditation through AdvancEd, the
largest community of educational professionals in the world committed to help schools
achieve world class levels in educational practice. As an accrediting agency, AdvancEd
is partner to 32,000 schools and school systems—employing more than four million
educators and enrolling more than 20 million students—across the United States and 70
other nations.

When Everest Academy Inc. started with the help of the first Filipino members of
Regnum Christi, it opened with only 19 students in Grades 1 and 2, which eventually
became 33 by the end of the first school year in 2007-2008. The first batch of 8" Grade
Middle Schoolers graduated in SY 2013-2014. The Kindergarten and High School
opened in SY 2014-2015 as Everest Academy was created to accommodate a Lower
School (Kinder to Grade 5), a Middle School (Grades 6 to 8) and a High Schoo! (Grades
9 to 12). The student population will be over 400 from Kindergarten to Grade 10 in SY
2015-2016

The objective of Regnum Christi is to carry out the school’s mission of delivering
the Integral Formation and quality international education among Filipino and Philippine
based foreign families. Everest Academy offers its services to the Archdiocese of Manila
and the local Christian and surrounding communities, specifically Filipino and foreign
families who seek quality international and Catholic education for their children. As such,
the population is made up of approximately 70% Filipino students, 20% students of
mixed Filipino and foreign descent and 10% foreign and expat families. Although the
program has been implemented successfully for decades in other countries, it is very new
here in the Philippines. Some existing students of the school have and will experience
this as they have been able to take advantage of our international immersion programs
allowing them to study in the Regnum Christi sister schools abroad, which carry out the
same formation through the same approach as Everest Academy Inc.

Unfortunately, there are no local Filipino educators and administrators who have
the level of experience implementing the Integral Formation program equal to the
experience of their counterparts in the countries the Regnum Christi schools have been in
operation for the past 50-60 years. For Filipino and Philippine based families to fully
benefit and achieve the full potential that the program promises, it therefore requires that
foreign experts with years of experience with Integral Formation and the NCE curriculum
take active roles in the administration and management of Everest Academy. This is
crucial for the school to be able to fulfil the Vision and Mission that it has set out to do.
The achievement and realization of the Vision and Mission will benefit the country as a
whole as Everest Academy Inc. graduates will be fully equipped and compelled to

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respond to the needs the country faces as it strives to take an important role among other
nations and lead the renewal of Philippine society in a global environment, not for
personal gain but based on Catholic values.

Considering the above, the author of this bill finds it necessary to transform the
present Everest Academy Inc. into an educational institution of international character, to
be known as the Everest Academy International School, so as it may be granted by law
certain prerogatives such as, but not limited to the election of members of the Board who
may or may not be foreign citizens, appoint of a school head who need not be a Filipino
and employment of foreign educators all of whom are recognized experts having years of
experience with Integral Formation and the NCE curriculum, conducive for its growth
and to achieve its laudable objective to educate both Filipino and foreign students to
become well-rounded, creative, and passionate leaders able to effectively communicate
and collaborate with others, strong in character and virtue, guided in their actions and
choices by ethical principles and respect for the human person, and develop mature
Christians who understand, value, live and share their faith, forge socially-concemed
individuals responsive to the spiritual and material needs of others.

For this purpose, the bill aims to recognize the Everest International Academy the
status as an international school and granting certain prerogatives conducive to its growth
like the Southville Intemational School and the Cebu International School.

In view of the foregoing, the approval of this bill is earnestly sought.

JONATHAN ADELA CRUZ


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
Third Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 6432

Introduced by Representative Jonathan A. Dela Cruz

“AN ACT
RECOGNIZING EVEREST ACADEMY INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL AS AN
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION OF INTERNATIONAL CHARACTER,
GRANTING CERTAIN PREROGATIVES TO HASTEN ITS GROWTH AS
SUCH, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.”

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Everest Academy, herein referred to as the School, is hereby
declared an educational institution of international character authorized to operate
educational programs that primarily and principally adhere to universally accepted and
recognized educational policies.

SEC. 2. The Everest Academy Intemational School ., shall be the registered
name of the School and shall have as its members the school management and the parents
or guardians, whether of Philippine or foreign nationality, of the children who have
enrolled and attended the School for at least one (1) school year: Provided, that the
school year shall be determined in accordance with the School’s own calendar of studies
and work schedule: Provided, further, That the School shall be governed by a Board of
Trustees, herein referred to as the “Board”, elected at large from among the corporation’s
members of good standing.


SEC. 3. To enable the School to continue carrying out its educational program,

improve its standard of instruction and meet the special needs of the foreign temporary
resident community for quality education, it shall:

(a) Be able to accept provisions and donations of every kind to carry out the
purposes of the Everest Academy International School and be entitled to use
Properties, real or personal, so donated and to construct and own buildings
thereon exclusively for educational purposes: Provided, That for any reason,
Everest Academy International School , ceases to occupy and/or use real
properties it may acquire by virtue of this Act, the properties and all
improvements thereon of permanent nature shall accrue to the Government of
the Republic of the Philippines;

(b) Whenever necessary to carry out its objectives, have the right to obtain leases
on real properties, acquire personal properties, tangible or intangible, or any
interests in such properties other real, by purchase, lease, barter, donation, gift
or otherwise, and dispose of , mortgage or encumber them for the benefit of
the school concerned;

(©) Accept applicants for admission, regardless of nationality, in accordance with
its own eligibility standards, and rules for admission and grade placement:
Provided, That no single alien nationality shall consist more than thirty
percent (30% of the entire student population in a given school year, as stated
in the records of the School.

(d) be managed and administered by a President/ Principal/Superintendent, who
may or not be a Filipino citizen and who possess the qualifications prescribed
by the Board;

(©) Upon consultation with the Secretary of Education, determine its own
curriculum and teach whatever language or languages it may deem proper and
determine the amount of fees and assessments which may be reasonably


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imposed upon its pupils and/or students, to maintain or conform to Everest

Academy International School's standard of education

(f) Maintain the international standards of education compatible with those
obtained in similar schools of generally recognized standing; and

(g) employ its own teaching and management personnel selected by the Board
either locally or abroad, from the Philippines or other countries or
nationalities, such foreign personnel being exempt from laws that impose
nationality restrictions on control and administration of educational
institutions, except laws that have been or will be enacted for the protection of
employees: Provided; That such exemption shall not extend to their liability
for income taxes, unless otherwise provided by a bilateral agreement;

(h) Promote international friendship, goodwill and understanding among

members of the foreign community and citizens of the Philippines; and

(i) Not to teach anything derogatory to the prestige and well-being of the
Philippines and its people, nor those which will subvert its institutions and
government

SEC. 4. The Secretary of Education, in consultation with the members of the
Board of the Everest Academy International School, shall issue such rules as may be
necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.

SEC 5. If any clause, sentence, paragraph or part of this Act is subsequently
declared unconstitutional, the validity of the remaining provisions hereof shall remain in

full force and effect.

SEC. 6. This act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the
Official Gazette.

Approved,