SITTING at the heart of Manila and right at the country’s cradle of arts and culture, the Eton International School rises as the first world-class learning institution inside the prestigious grounds of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).
Eton International School-CCP stands proudly amongst landmark structures—the Folk Arts Theatre in its north, the Coconut Palace on the east and bordered in the south by the Manila Bay, world-renowned for its spectacular sunrise and glorious sunsets.
“ETON is the school of the future where learning happens beyond the four walls of the classrooms. It is a place where kids will feel safe to grow their talents and multiply their talents exponentially,” said Dr. Jacqueline Marzan-Tolentino, Eton International School Directress.
ETON has created three pioneering programs—the Center for the Talented and Gifted for the pre-schoolers; Center for Leadership and Performing Arts for grade school and Center for Technology and Innovation for high school.
“What sets ETON apart is how we nurture the leadership potential in each child. Our mantra is every child is a hero waiting to be unleashed. It only takes love to break all barriers in the mind, heart and soul. With our multiple local and international programs, each child is given the chance to find his gifts, strengthen their resiliency and build their confidence,” Tolentino adds.
THE ETON EDUCATION
Tolentino further explained that the Eton school philosophy is that “Every child is born with Royal Dignity.”
“We believe the gifts and calling of each child is irrevocable. A child’s worth is built in. It is our mission to open their mind to possibilities, strengthen their competency and skills and inculcate values that will set them for life,” she adds.
Eton’s motto is Artes (Heart), Scientia (Mind) and Intelligentia (Will or Spirit).
“Every child is nurtured to inspire, to innovate and to lead a life in honor of God and service to humanity. Every Etonian leads with humility, courage and heart,” Tolentino said.
Eton prides itself of its small class size that allows them to focus on the development of each child’s multiple intelligence especially in the crucial foundation years. Tolentino describes this as strengthening their roots to allow the children to be resilient as they grow and bloom and ready to conquer the world.
- LANGUAGE PROGRAM- At Eton, they nurture the gift not just of one language but three—English, Filipino and Mandarin. The students may also have an elective in French and other languages.
- STREAM PROGRAM- Eton’s Science Technology Recreation Engineering Arts and Math (STREAM) programs has given the Eton students a remarkable edge in this space. “Our global affiliations range from TOFEL to Lego Robotics to International Learning Styles And Multiple Intelligence. Our program is used in UK, Asia and US,” Tolentino proudly said.
- LEADERSHIP PROGRAM-Eton provides learning adventures that are life changing. The students are taught to focus on developing their faith in God, self, family and others through self mastery, experiential mastery and life mastery here in the Philippines and abroad.
- HOLISTIC PROGRAM- Eton sets three goals in every school year for students to learn and grow with from subject goals. These could be in arts, language, geography, history, ICT, languge, math, music, PE, Science, society and technology); Personal goals ( enquiry resilience morality communication thoughtfulness cooperation respect and adaptability):& Internationalization goals ( local and international collaboration and cooperation.) Students are exposed to different opportunities to grow with their counterparts worldwide through international competition and fieldwork.
DEVELOPING 21st CENTURY LEADERS
The mission of Eton International School, Tolentino explained, is to help develop leaders for the 21st century.
“These are leaders who are creative, critical, caring, compassionate, communicative, collaborative, confident, country loving and cross cultural,” she says. “We refer to these as the care values embedded in each child.”
“He dreams big by taking small steps. A small act of courage to press on towards his dream to lead his generation to a better life. It starts by creating multiple positive adventures in their early years, establishing their strengths in their foundation years thru multiple engagements and lastly enhancing their multiple Intelligence in their high school years. Specialization happens in their senior year that will give them a head start in life, Tolentino shared.
ETON GRADUTES MAKING MILESTONES GLOBALLY
The proof of the pudding is in the eating, so the saying goes.
ETON International School is proud not just of the achievements of current students but, most especially, their graduates.
Here are some of the Eton alumni who have made the school proud:
- Liviana Navarro, who was a consistent gold medalist at Eton from preschool to grade school has so far amassed five gold medals as world champion in performing arts in the United States, where she is based as a respected theater performer and singer. Liviana Navarro- 5 Gold medals for World Champion in Performing Arts, USA. Theater Performer and Singer, and a Consistent Gold Medalist form Preschool to Gradeschool.
- Ylay Gosiaco, who was also a consistent gold medalist at Eton, is now a scholar at the prestigious Harvard Medical School
- Nezza Rafain, also a consistent gold medalist at Eton, is a recipient of eight scholarship grants abroad, was accelerated twice and was an International Benchmark Test Topnotcher in English, Math and Science in Australia. She is currently a medical student.
- Carlos Alfonso, made Eton and the whole country proud by winning the championship in the International Robotics Olympiad in China.
- Valerie Villuan, a consistent gold medal awardee in Eton, graduated with the highest honor of summa cum laude in the United States.
“The achievements of our current students and our alumni inspire us to provide a world-class education to Eton students. If we want our children to be future-ready and globally competitive, we are certain that an Eton education could prepare them for that,” Tolentino said.
Aside from the newly-inaugurated ETON International School-CCP, ETON has another branch in Rockwell which caters to students from the south of the metropolis. “We are very proud of the brand of education that we provide and we are exploring other areas to make our world-class education accessible for as many students as possible,” Tolentino adds.