George Dewey High School - For Jake

[OnMyWay]

Well, it is only a memory of high school for Jake, but I will put it here in schools.  By chance I stopped in the former George Dewey High School today and took some pics.  This was a high school on the Subic Bay Navy Base.  I posted some pics a few years ago and it seems like the abandoned section has gone downhill even more.  Back then, the abandoned section was all green with overgrowth and I did not venture in there.  Now that it is dry it looks like they cleared out some of the dried up brush, uncovering all the decay and filth.  Sad to see what was probably a very nice facility neglected like this.

I can't remember if this landmark was here before, but it has a fresh coat of paint.  I couldn't get a good shot of the plaque due to the sun.

A company called ASI occupies part of the old school and is very well maintained.

This is where they company ends, on the left, and total decay begins, on the right.

Looking down the parking lot to the abandoned portion of the school.

Looking down a hallway to the ASI property.

Looking down the hallway the other way towards the gym.

This looks like an old lunch area.

Outside the gym bathrooms, where I'm sure Jake spent many hours.  I did not see the door for the bathroom he frequented the most.

A look inside the gym.  It is full of dried mud.  Perhaps this was part of the damage from the volcano?

A view from the gym to another building that appeared to be a restaurant at some time.

Jake ate well and had time for putting his homework on the walls!

I love these huge Acacia trees!

My girls waiting in the car!

[Mike S]

What a shame .... I have lots of pictures I downloaded from the net of the base in it's hay day .... never had the privilege of visiting or serving there .... thanks for the pictures and narration ....

[OnMyWay]

@Jake

Hey Jake!  I recall us chatting about your old high school but I can't see that you read this old post back in 2016.

I have an update!  The Manila Times College is renovating the school and it is supposed to open next year.  I drive by once in a while to see how they are doing.  Making some progress and it appears they are even going to fix up the gymnasium! 

They currently have a small campus up in Cubi and it will be moved to the old George Dewey site.  It should be fairly good sized.  We are hopeful that the tuition will be reasonable as our daughter, now in 10th grade, will need a new school.  Her current school does not offer grade 11 and 12.

Not much to take pictures of yet but when they are further along I will get some.

[OnMyWay]

@Jake

Looks like at least one of my kids will be going to your old school next August.  We stopped by today and they already have some administrators there, and it looks like 15-20 rooms are almost ready.  The current students in Cubi will move to the new facility in the next few months, then new students will start in August.  They follow the U.S. school year schedule.

The gymnasium is being retrofitted but it will not be open until phase II.  They said they have plans for a swimming pool too.

[OnMyWay]

@jake

Another update on George Dewey High School, now Manila Times College.  I now have two daughters enrolled there as of today, but it is online.  However, they have continued to fix up the campus.  I stopped by today to pay some tuition, and took some pictures.  It was a dreary day and they were cleaning up the mess from the early rain and wind (Quinta), but you can see the huge change from the pictures I posted in 2016.

My oldest daughter started 11th grade online, back in late August.  We did not think we could cope up with our 6 year old attending first grade online, so we did not enroll her.  We did hire a tutor in September for 3 hours a day and kept her for the past month.  She was good and Katy learned a lot, improving a lot in reading and math.  Our good friends enrolled their first grader son at the school and it has been a good experience.  So we went down Friday and asked if Katy could still join.  They are just finishing the first quarter, but they said it was possible.  She will have to make up all the lost hours to satisfy the DPED requirements.  Her first day was today and she enjoyed it.  In retrospect, we made a mistake holding her out until now.  At the time, we were hoping face to face would open up, but it looks like that will not happen soon.

Here are some pics.

Front area 2016

 

I didn't get this shot centered but this is the same sidewalk as shown above.  A bit dirty from the storm.

 

This is the center hallway from the gym to the other building, in 2016.

  

This is the same area today.  That same walkway is in the distance behind the concrete slab.  They doubled the size of that slab and I guess it will be an activity area.  I just happened to take a shot of that same doorway today.  That building is about 3/4s finished and will have admin in the front and a theater in part of the rear.

 

This first shot shows about half of the rear building of classrooms that have finished renovations.  They were being used for a short time before Covid hit.  The second shot is a renovated classroom where they temporarily have some admin functions.  This is where I went today.

 

I love this huge Acacia tree in the parking lot and there are a few others too.  I think it lost a lot of leaves and branches in the storm so it is not very green now.

[Jake]

6 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

@jake

Another update on George Dewey High School, now Manila Times College. 

 

Wow, those photos reactivated my lost memory cells during my puberty years (9th and 10th grade).  I was on the HS baseball team.  Do they still have that baseball field across the front entrance area?  Thanks Don!  

[OnMyWay]

2 hours ago, Jake said:

Wow, those photos reactivated my lost memory cells during my puberty years (9th and 10th grade).  I was on the HS baseball team.  Do they still have that baseball field across the front entrance area?  Thanks Don!  

There is no evidence of a baseball field over there, but they cleared the entire area with plans for some kind of fields.

[Heeb]

28 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

There is no evidence of a baseball field over there, but they cleared the entire area with plans for some kind of fields.

I don't think there's a single ball field left on SBMA now, used to be so many, we had the base basketball and softball teams that would travel, also the intramural and bar leagues year round. even after Pinatubo the fields were cleaned up and we were playing softball again six months later. If I remember correctly the George Dewey high school gym collapsed during Pinatubo killing 2 people.

Edited October 27, 2020 by Heeb

[OnMyWay]

9 minutes ago, Heeb said:

If I remember correctly the George Dewey high school gym collapsed during Pinatubo killing 2 people.

I never saw that story but I would not doubt it.  When I took the pictures in 2016, the gym still had a foot or two of mud in it.  I think they have cleaned it out some and they have plans to fully renovate it later.

[Mike J]

Is it a college now, or high school and college?