Seventeen girls were the first enrollees of the newly opened Culion Catholic School for girls. They were all residents of the Hijas de Maria Dormitory run by the Sisters of St. Paul of Charters. It was Mother Donatienne, Superior of the sisters who suggested to Fr. Hugh McNulty, Jesuit priest to found an elementary school for their girls in 1936.
In June of 1937, the school began operations but it was not until June of 1939 that it finalaly got government recognition. Those first enrollees were educated by a complement of three Jesuits, five SPC sisters and four lay teachers. While the school was able to proudce ints first graduates from Grad VII in 1938, it had to be closed down during World War II.
The school reopened as Culion Catholic School accepting both boys and girls ato a complete primary course. It became a Jesut mission schol managed by the SPC Sisters for children of teh "lepers".
Fr. Walter Hamilton, S.J. opened the St. Ignatius High School in 1951 to provide for secondary education to the graduates of the Culion Catholic School. After 4 years, Fr. Pedro Dimaano, S.J. decided to merge the two schols thus giving birth to the St. Ignatius Academy.
It took another three decades until the opening of a College department under the guidance of then school director Fr. John Chambers, S.J. offering a sole course in Bachelor of Arts Major in Literature. Thus the name of the school passed from St. Ignatius Academy to St. Ignatius College. In 1988, it was again renamed to its current name, Loyola College of Culion.
The Culion community benefited from the technical acumen of Fr. Dario Miguel Medel Saniel, S.J. who in the mid of 1990's introduced the first classes in a small room in the father's convent. This program in computer lessons was assimilated into the curriculum of LCC when Fr. Gabriel Jose T. Gonzalez, S.J. constructed the Computer Laboratory Building in 2002 and created the Computer Department of the school offering short-term courses in computer literacy to the students as well as to others interested.
Today, the Loyola College of Culion remains to be the only private and Catholic institution on Culion providing preparatory, basic, and tertiary education to the youth of the island and its neighbors. From the initial seventeen female students whe it opened in 1936, it now serves some seven hundred boys and girls, men and women. Annually, the school contributes an average of 20 new professionals who take their place in the local workforce as teachers and government and private employees. Many have likewise gone beyond the boundaries of Culion pursuing various endeavors. Many of its graduates from high school ahve also continued their studies in other fields of specialization in Puerto Princesa, Manila and other places in the Philippines.
The school continues to serve the community through the financial assistance of ANESVAD and the Society of Jesus. It was in the mid of 1970's when Fr. Javier Olazabal, S.J. saw the growing financial needs of the school and secured the support of Fundacion ANESVAD which continues to do so up to the year 2008. While each student in the school is heavily subsidized, many are still not able to meet the minimal tuition requirements. Such poor but deserving students are supported by various scholarship awarded by the Jesuits, the SPC sisters, and othe private and public scholarship funds.
As Loyola College of Culion turns SEVENTY this year, it enters as challenging phase in its history. Today, its dream is to strengthen its various programs so that those who formed within its walls become individuals imbued with the Catholic, Ignatian and Jesuit character of its education. Furthermore, they ought to be individuals prepared to meet and rise to the challenges of the modern world.
