Smooth opening seen in all public schools

CNMI public schools had a smooth opening yesterday despite some schools posting large increases in enrollment numbers.

At Marianas High School, acting principal Cherlyn Cabrera disclosed that they posted a 17-percent enrollment increase-from 1,295 last school year to 1,523 students as of yesterday noon. She expects the number to increase as registration is still ongoing.

Despite minor scheduling conflicts for new students, Cabrera said that yesterday’s opening of classes was a success.

“It went well. There were a lot of excitement from teachers and students. Although there were some minor challenges, overall our opening went pretty smooth,” she told Saipan Tribune.

She described yesterday’s enrollment as the biggest for MHS in recent years.

MHS has 47 classroom teachers and needs about three more to accommodate all enrollees.

PSS has set a maximum teacher-to-student ratio of 1:28 for high schools. As of yesterday, MHS had a 33:1 ratio-which Cabrera said is “pretty big” and must be reduced by increasing their number of teachers.

“Every hour [enrollment] is growing. Once we have a real number, we will plan on how we can reduce the class sizes,” she said, adding that the PSS Human Resource Office is now working on finding three more teachers for MHS.

Of its 1,523 students, Cabrera said that 474 are freshmen; many are transferees from private schools.

At Garapan Elementary School, the student count was at 850 as of yesterday and principal Paulette Sablan expects the figure to also increase in the next few days. The school had 832 students last year.

GES has 35 classroom teachers and a teacher-to-students ratio of 1:20 for kindergarten to third grade and 1:28 for upper graders.

Sablan disclosed that one of the three kindergarten classes is being held inside the campus, while the other two are housed at the MIHA housing at the back of the campus. Once construction of a new building is completed, all these classes will be transferred inside the school premises.

At Saipan Southern High School, principal Jesse Tudela said they had 909 enrollees as of yesterday-a 7-percent increase from last year’s 851 students. He said the increase is mainly composed of transferees from private schools and other zoning villages like Kagman.

The school has 31 teachers and a 1:29 teacher-to-students ratio. If enrollment continues to increase, Tudela said he might need more teachers and could run short of classrooms. He referred some last-minute enrollees to MHS yesterday to prevent overcrowding at his school.

Chacha Oceanview Junior High principal Vince Dela Cruz said they have 381 students so far, of which about a hundred come from re-zoned villages in Tanapag, San Roque, and parts of San Vicente. All classes, he said, started on time at 8:30am and closed at 3:25pm yesterday.

He commended all his 13 teachers and support staff who made the necessary preparations to ensure the successful class opening. This is the first time that Chacha did not accommodate sixth graders to make way for incoming seventh graders from the rezoned areas.