Our School
SCHOOL PROFILE
It all started with a vision. The dream was a school in the heart of COGEO Village that would offer quality and affordable education to the youth.
In 1981, the husband and wife team of the late Prof. Henry D. Bersamin and Prof. Marietta G. Bersamin founded the COGEO Learning Center. The humble abode of the couple became the learning center. It started with fifteen pupils.
Prof. Henry had an untimely demise in the summer of 1984. Ma’am Marietta lost her husband. His death didn’t dampen her spirit to thrive and continue the legacy left by her husband. She focused on their dream.
A steady increase in enrolment prompted her to expand. It was a big struggle for a widow with three young children. With God as her guide and stronghold, she pushed through. As the number grew to more than 60, she transformed the bungalow into a preschool. And in 1990, from her meager savings, she made-over on the house into a school. It was renovated to accommodate the ever-increasing number of enrollees. Her family contented themselves with two small bedrooms, a dining area, and a common bathroom at the back of the school.
In 1995, strong request from the parents of graduating pre-school pupils and to answer the call of the times, Ma’am Bersamin decided that it was a time for a change. With the help of her daughter, who in 1992 graduated from college and passed the Licensure Examination for Teachers, they applied the COGEO Learning Center in the Department of Education in 1994. In 1995, the government permit was issued. It opened the doors for a complete elementary course. It changed its name to Hillcrest School.
Hillcrest School duly registered with the Securities Exchange Commission, the Social Security System, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the PAG-IBIG, the Philhealth and the Department of Education in the same year.
The population kept on growing. Ma’am Bersamin saw the opportunity to grow. In 1997, through her meager savings, a three – storey building adjacent to the old one was built to pave way for additional classrooms, a library and a computer room.
In June of 2000, five years after opening its elementary course, Hillcrest School was finally given government recognition due to the persistence and effort of her daughter, Marlu Bersamin-Cundangan, the school’s first principal. In the same year, Hillcrest School offered high school courses to the community.
As the number of enrollees rose each year, classrooms became congested. In 2002, a second floor was constructed on top of old bungalow unit and built additional classrooms which were spacious and enough to accommodate 30 – 35 pupils. Air-conditioning units were installed in all classrooms.
In 2009, Hillcrest School’s population needed more spaces for classrooms. It rented two bungalow units in the same village. In 2014, the bungalow school was flattened to give way to a three-storey building. In the same year, the Private Education Assistance Commission had certified its junior high school course. Starting that year, all learners would receive financial assistance from the government.
In 2017, Hillcrest School offered Senior High School course. The first track was Academics and the strand was General Academics. In 2018, it partnered with Capellan Institute of Science and Technology, a TESDA accredited school. The Technology-Vocational and Livelihood track were offered with two strands: Home Economics (Food and Beverage Services and Tourism Services) and Information and Communications in Technology (Basic Programming and Web Design).
In 2020, Hillcrest School introduced the Home-based Online Learning Development (HOLD) Program in School Year 2020-2021 to support learners both old and new, in partnership with Victorious Homeschool. Despite the uncertainties brought about by the pandemic, the goal to uphold continuity of education remains strong.