Mount Carmel School recently announced that long-time educator Mrs. Filmah Buenaflor will serve as vice-principal for the 2021-2022 school year. Mrs. Buenaflor will succeed the former vice-principal Mr. Bobby Nelson Baldazo.

This upcoming school year will be Mrs. Buenaflor’s eleventh year of service at Mount Carmel School. As a teacher, Mrs. Buenaflor played a significant role in many programs that have helped expand the quality of education at MCS. In addition to the math and computer courses she teaches, Mrs. Buenaflor serves as the chairperson of the mathematics learning community and teaches the Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles course for juniors and seniors.

For the last two years, Mrs. Buenaflor served as the faculty representative for Mount Carmel School and helped advocate and mobilize initiatives that supported the needs of the faculty. Additionally, Mrs. Buenaflor served as the co-chairperson for the school’s Cognia Learning Capacity Domain and has contributed to the successful acquisition of grants.

Grants co-authored by Mrs. Buenaflor include a summer bridge program/enrichment program for the math learning community and a math learning after-school tutoring program.

Mrs. Filmah Buenaflor has seventeen years of experience in education, eleven of which she devoted to Mount Carmel School. Presently, Buenaflor holds a bachelor of science degree in computer science from Ateneo de Naga University and recently earned her master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Concordia University- Portland in July 2020.

Departing vice-principal Mr. Bobby Baldazo commented, “Mrs. Buenaflor’s years of experience and commitment to the school made her an ideal candidate to serve as vice-principal. She [Filmah Buenaflor] was instrumental in making APCSP available to MCS students and I am certain she will play a key role in the development of more academic programs.”

Acting president Mrs. Frances Taimanao also shared that Mrs. Buenaflor's continuing efforts to support and improve STEM curriculum made her an ideal candidate stating, “One of the primary reasons we also selected Mrs. Buenaflor as vice-principal, is due to her commitment to researching new ways to improve our STEM curricula. Many of our students have developed an interest in STEM disciplines and we hope to foster their interest into potential career paths as they prepare for college.”

Mrs. Buenaflor expressed her sincere appreciation for the opportunity to serve as vice principal and what she hopes to accomplish in her position, “I firmly believe that under the leadership of Mrs. Frances T. Taimanao with the eager zealous support of Bishop Ryan P. Jimenez, the Board of Directors headed by Chairman Ben Babauta, and with our phenomenal teachers, parents, and other stakeholders that we will be able to increase student engagement and achievement through our programs.”

As vice principal, Mrs. Buenaflor has many ideas to improve the quality of education at Mount Carmel School which include continuously improving the school culture, updating the curriculum, and equipping teachers with the necessary skills and tools to enhance instructions based on the collected data.

Registration for Mount Carmel School’s 2021-2022 school year is ongoing and online applications are available on the school website,  www.mountcarmelsaipan.com.