MANILA, Philippines – The Ateneo de Manila High School – an exclusive school for boys – will offer senior high school starting 2016 and will open its doors to more than 300 students outside Ateneo, including girls. 

Ateneo de Manila University president Jose Ramon Villarin made the announcement in a memo on Friday, March 13, which was posted on the official Facebook page of the Ateneo de Manila High School. 

“The co-ed nature of the Senior High School is part of preparation for college,” Villarin said. He added that the 300 new students – “both boys and girls” – will be chosen from “public, parochial, and select private schools” in the Philippines. 

The K to 12 program, formally known as the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013, will be fully implemented nationwide starting 2016. (READ: INFOGRAPHIC: 10 things about K to 12)

The first batch of students under the K to 12 program will enter senior high school’s grade 11 in 2016, and grade 12 in 2017. (READ: What senior high school tracks fit your locality?) 

But Villarin assured the Ateneo community that the Ateneo Grade School and the Junior High School will remain exclusive for boys. 

Ateneo’s Board of Trustees approved the decision to offer senior high school starting school year 2016-2017 on February 7. (READ: Gov’t told: Ease K-12 transition woes, tap private schools)

“The creation of the SHS is a milestone in our ongoing K-12 Basic Education Reform program. This completes the planned restructuring of our basic education program into six years of grade school and six years of high school,” Villarin explained. 

Even before Friday’s announcement, Ateneo is already set to open its grade 9 to a limited number of transfer applicants for school year 2015-2016 as part of its transition to K to 12.

To date, 5,020 existing Department of Education high schools will offer senior high school, while 274 private schools already have permits to offer the program. – Rappler.com