
How We Were (The AAIS History)
2012
2013
On its second year, SY 2013-2014, the population increased to 165 students from Kinder to Grade 6. The school was granted complete preschool to elementary course offering under Dr. Concepcion Vasquez as the School Principal. The first commencement exercise for Grade 6 graduates was held on the school grounds in March 2014.
2014
The third school year manifested an increase in the number of the student population which grew to 231 students from Kinder to Grade 8. The third founding anniversary was successfully celebrated showcasing talents and skills of the students in field demonstration, sportsfest, Kiddielympics and other exciting activities. Parents, teachers, and employees had fun in the exhibition ball games.
The first Employees’ Appreciation Night was also held during this school year in honor of the tireless hard work of the members of the academic family. It was a night of shared camaraderie between and among the teaching, non-teaching staff and ancillary personnel.
The use of Arabic language was highlighted in the first-ever World Arabic Language Day celebration in December with the students using only Arabic language in the program and in all the presentations including nasheed (singing) and speeches.
It was also the first time for the school to join hands with other private schools through membership to PAPRISA or Pasig Alliance of Private School Administrators. This paved the way to the participation of the students in the PAPRISA Palaro, including the opening parade. It was a delightful experience for the entire academic family to meet other academic families from different private schools in Pasig.
This school year was under the leadership of the School Head, Ms. Divina Lamban and Executive Director Mr. Mhd Omran Alhalabi.
2015
Getting bigger and better in its 4 th year, the school opened additional course offering in Junior High School. The student population increased to 278 in 16 sections. This school year also started gender sectioning from Grade 5 to Grade 9. Classes from these levels were clustered under single gender sections; thus, male and female students are separated.
Also, this school year marked the beginning of student empowerment as it gave birth to three major student organizations — Girl Scouts of the Philippines (GSP), Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP), and our own Supreme Student Government (SSG). It is the goal of the school to develop future leaders among the students. Thus, during the World Teachers’ Day celebration, the SSG, together with the administration launched the Student Take-Over program. Students from the high school levels “took over” the classes of their teachers and became the teachers for the day to the kinder and grade school classes. It was a great learning experience for the budding students leaders.
The students harnessed their knowledge, skills and talents on the different speech, reading, writing, drawing, and spelling contests using three major languages — English, Filipino and Arabic — during school activities in commemoration of Buwan ng Wika, English Month and World Arabic Language Day.
2016
The School Year 2016-2017 gave emphasis to the establishment of more student clubs and organizations – such as Arabic and Islamic Club, English Club, Science club, Math Club, Sports Club – in addition to the SSG, GSP and BSP organizations. The SSG officers and members, together with the SSG Moderator and selected teachers joined the National Leadership Training for SSG in Baguio City.
The student population has grown to 353 from Kinder to Grade 10. During this academic year, the school represented the Division of Pasig in the Department of Education’s 2 nd Regional Musabaqah. Our students competed in various contests and have meritoriously proven excellence as we were able to bag the championship for the choir singing (nasheed) and Qur’an memorization. The school represented the National Capital Region in the National Musabaqah held at Tagaytay City.
Our competing choir was composed of 22 students from Grades 1 to 4; and our representative for Qur’an Memorization was a pupil from Grade 1 – Ayrah Andra — who won 2 nd place against all other contestants from 18 participating regions in the country. It was such a great feat for the entire academic community of AAIS.
During the Founding Anniversary, the entire academic community participated in the Fun Run organized by the school. The beneficiaries of this fund-raising activity were the orphans studying in the school. The PTA (Parent-Teacher Association) under the leadership of Mr. Irfan Begh was very active in various programs for the school and the orphans.
2017
In the school year 2017-2018, the academic community has grown bigger and even more progressive. The enrollment reached 391 and the number of school personnel also increased. The students determinedly excelled in curricular and co-curricular endeavors. They continued to compete with other schools in academic and sports contests. The students joined the Regional Musabaqah of the Department of Education – NCR. The school earned its spot in the field of sports having Alsowaidi Mipanga, a Grade 5 pupil, as the Champion in the Badminton-Singles competition during the PAPRISA Division Meet.
2018
The school persisted to aspire for excellence. In the School Year 2018-2019, the academic family became even bigger with 411 students and 52 personnel. The school was granted Government Recognition by the Department of Education. The Senior High School program was opened offering GAS (General Academic Strand) under the Academic Track.
The school continued to prosper in diverse school activities – balancing between Islamic values formation and academic excellence. The Islamic integration in all learning areas and different school activities was very much observed and practiced. The academic family participated in the first Eid’l Adha Congregational Prayer held at Pasig City Hall quadrangle.
One of the firsts of the school year is the conduct of Linggo ng Kabataan – a gender sensitive activity for high school students. The activities, which were conducted separately for male and female students were designed to provide opportunities where they can enjoy and appreciate their being Muslim youths.
Inculcating the sense of social responsibility, the school through the SSG Officers spearheaded activities that teach about prosocial behaviors in social and environmental concerns. SSG officers and members coordinated with the Barangay Captain for their environmental project of canal dredging and declogging. They also joined the repacking of goods for relief operations at the DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) in Pasay. These projects helped instill and raise social consciousness, goodwill, and public-spiritedness.
Also, during this year, the school, through its School Head, Ms. Divina Lamban was invited to present its Best School Practices in the 2 nd National Consultative Conference of the Madaris Education Program (MEP) of the Department of Education held in General Santos City.
2019
The entire academic community was substantially enriched in numbers in both personnel and student populations. There were astonishing school activities which were actively joined by the students and the rest of the academic family. The initial major highlights of the School Year 2019-2020 were the school observances of the Day of Arafah and the Day of Ashura which were celebrated with Islamic seminars, food sharing at iftar (breaking of fast) and congregational prayers in the school musallah (prayer room).
The students exhibited their skills and prowess in different curricular and co-curricular programs during the 3-day Club Week. The students actively participated in various fun-filled skills activities organized by the Club Moderators in various fields of interests, such as Campus Journalism seminar-workshop of the English Club; calligraphy workshop of the Arabic Club; visual arts training workshop of the Samahang Makasining (Art Club); life skills and leadership workshops of the GSP and BSP; active citizenship program of the SSG; Math Camp with Boodle Fight of the Alyansang Maninipnay (Math Club); and Science Camp with Obstacle Course of the Science Club.
Resource speakers and trainers were invited to conduct these activities. The Kiddie Club composed of the young pupils from Kinder to Grade 3 enjoyed exciting learning activities and had fun in the Family Day held at Rainforest Resort.
One of the tremendous highlights of the school year was during the celebration of the World Arabic Language Day. All the students, faculty and staff, visitors and parents participated vicariously during the competition using exclusively the Arabic language.
The school was granted the permit to offer additional strands for the Senior High School program – the ABM or Accountancy, Business and Management and HUMSS or Humanities and Social Sciences – another educational achievement of the year.
Once again, the school presented its Best School Practices in the 3 rd National Consultative Conference of the Department of Education Madaris Education Program held in Davao City. The presenter was our School Head, Ms. Dove Lamban. The conference was participated in by school heads of the different private madaris in the country. It was an affirmation of the educational objective of the school – to provide transformative education.
2020
The Founding Anniversary celebration in February of this year opened with a motorcade which was a first for the school. The academic community of parents, employees, students, and other stakeholders aboard 53 cars and about 15 motorcycles, joined the long motorcade along the city of Pasig. This was made possible as a result of a partnership with the barangay officials and the Pasig TPMO (Traffic and Parking Management Office).
Through the initiatives of Executive Director Mhd Omran Alhalabi and School Head Divina Lamban, the school also launched its marketing video which reached thousands of viewers and likers from our social media accounts. This video was also shared not only by our AAIS academic community; but by others who were supportive of the vision of the school. The video presented how Islam is integrated in the teaching and learning processes and activities of the school. The new version of the community song “Rasulullahi Allaman” with English lyrics was featured as the background song of video.
Towards the end of the school year, in March, the lockdown due to the Covid 19 struck the entire country and all schools ceased to operate. The school management decided to continue giving home activities and lessons to the students through the use of social media, specifically Facebook Messenger. The final examination of the school year focused on mastery of knowledge and skills; thus, the test coverage was from the first to the third quarters. The exam was given through Canvas LMS (Learning Management System).
The commencement exercises and recognition program of the school year was conducted in May via Facebook Live.
In preparation for the coming school year, the school launched a series of webinar for parents using different platforms like Google Meet, Facebook Live, and Webex. By using the different platforms, the parents are also being oriented about the conduct of online learning. The webinars tackled different topics like understanding the pandemic in the Islamic perspective, introduction of the learning continuity plan of the school, orientation about the online learning platform to be used for the coming school year, and parenting tips about distance learning. The school launched and used its own Learning Management System or LMS called, E-Academy. This LMS was pilot tested in the free summer classes for specific learning areas in June. Synchronous classes were conducted via the Big Blue Button of the E-Academy. Asynchronous classes were also through the E-Academy.
The Parents’ Orientation was also conducted online. Classes in the new normal of education began in July of this year.
2021
“Tuloy ang edukasyon, anuman ang sitwasyon.”
Education in the new normal.
The school continued its commitment to provide education amidst the challenges of the pandemic. Teachers and employees started reporting physically observing strict health protocols all throughout the year.
The school also continued to upgrade its E-Academy by introducing other features that make online classes interactive. Parents accounts have been created also, so that the parents can have access to the performance of their children and also so they can check lessons and activities that are being uploaded in the LMS.
As the health situation of the country eases, the school also began conducting on limited capacities and strictly observing health protocols in-person or face-to-face activities like the Parents’ Orientation, the 9th founding anniversary activities with the orphans and the SSG, tribute program for the teachers on World Teachers’ Day and the 9 th recognition program and graduation rites.
Commemoration of the school activities like Buwan ng Wika, Science Month, English Month, Math Month and World Arabic Language Day were all conducted through various video recorded contests. Students still manage to excel in different fields despite the limitations of the teaching and learning processes. Various Islamic webinars were also conducted during Islamic celebrations like Day of Arafah, Day of Ashura, etc.
There were other programs launched during the school year like the Project Core Values of the Month where the students perform tasks in relation to the core values presented in the weekly hadith. These performance tasks were video recorded by the students and submitted to the teachers. Students through the FB page of the SSG continue to present the hadith of the week in three languages – Arabic, English and Filipino. The Islamic Lifestyle Class was also launched by the school. The Islamic Lifestyle Class is an hour of lecture-discussion by our very own Executive Director, Sir Omran Alhalabi about relevant and timely topics for the youth. The goal of the class is to discuss interesting teen topics within the context of the Islamic perspective. The students actively participated in the discussions and were asking clarifying questions. This class was intended for students from Grade 5 to 12 and was conducted separately for male and female students.
The conduct of these activities only proved that the school could survive amidst the challenges of the pandemic time.
Moreover, despite all the challenges, the school continued its pursuit of providing better opportunities for the students. Thus, the school pursued its application for additional strand in the Senior High School program. The Department of Education (DepEd) granted the permit to offer the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) strand for the school year. The school now offers the complete strands under the academic track of the Senior High School program.
2022
This year marks the 10 th founding anniversary of the school. The anniversary celebration was highlighted by the Appreciation Night — a sit-down al-fresco dinner; and was well attended by educational partners. Invited officials from the Department of Education from the central, regional and division offices graced the occasion and gave their tribute messages. Among those who attended and gave their tribute messages from the Department of Education were Dr. Marge Ballesteros, Director of the International Cooperation Office; Dr. Victor Javeña, Chief Education Supervisor of SGOD Pasig; Ms. Ruth dela Cruz, Senior Education Program Supervisor and Private School Focal Person, SGOD Pasig. They were also joined by other officials of the Department of Education.
Special guests from the LGU (Local Government Unit) headed by the Barangay Captain Ms. Maricar Asilo Vivero, as well as former BOT President, Undersecretary Carim Panumpang gave congratulatory messages. The event also awarded well-deserved employees and BOT members.
Also, during the 10 th founding anniversary celebration, a charity event, called “Charity Begins at your Community” was held for orphans and needy students from traditional madrasah centers. The entire academic family – parents, employees, and students – joined hands in making this event a success. A total of 5 orphanages and madrasah centers in Taguig, Pasig and Rizal were visited by the teachers, volunteer parents, and employees. They held fun activities, gift giving and food sharing among the 193 beneficiaries.
The 10th Recognition Program and Commencement Exercises were held in Tanghalang Pasigueño, observing mandatory guidelines for in-person activities. The end-of-the-school year rites were attended by very special guests – headed by no less than the Kuwait Ambassador, His Excellency Musaed Saleh Althwaikh. The commencement speaker, Department of Education Undersecretary Tonisito Umali gave a very heart warming graduation message to the graduates and the parents. Dr. Rowena Ontangco, Senior Education Program Specialist from the Department of Education, National Capital Region led the conferment of titles to the graduates and completers.
The school started its preparation for the face-to-face classes. Selected teachers and the administrators conducted benchmarking activities at Nagpayong Elementary School to be able to gather insights and tips on the physical, mental and social aspects of the face-to-face classes.
The in-person classes started in August with blended learning modality in order to gradually shift from the online class to in-person classes. It was not an easy feat considering the two years of no physical activity for the students. With all graces from Allah, the school year started by conducting procedural orientation activities for the students, who were all adjusting to the going-back to school jitters.
School activities were once again conducted in-person; and students participated in different mental, physical, and artistic competitions and activities. The World Arabic Language Day was celebrated with booths, hallway presentations of specific Islamic countries, Arabic calligraphy exhibit and different skills competitions like nasheed (singing), poetry (qasidah), sermon (khutbah) and Islamic quiz bees.
2023
The 11th founding anniversary celebration in February was opened by a motorcade where students, teachers, and parents prepared motorcade floats adorned with tribal decorations presenting the three major Muslim tribes – Maranao, Tausug and Maguindanao. The students were seen once again performing field demonstrations and participating in the sports exhibition games. The traditional “tiangge” was once again featured as the culminating school celebratory activity. The Employees’ Appreciation Night was held to celebrate the awards and recognition of well-deserved employees.
The end-of-the-school year rites were held in Tanghalang Pasigueño and was graced by the Kuwait Ambassador, His Excellency Musaed Saleh Althwaikh once again. Guests from the Human Foundation and the BOT also came to celebrate the 11 th Recognition Ceremony and Commencement Exercises.
The school officially opened in August 22 offering full in-person classes for Pre-Kindergarten to Senior High School students.