Marianas High School is proud of its commitment to student success, academic excellence, and community engagement.
Its diverse student and staff population creates a more supportive campus climate for the students. There are at least twenty-one different ethnic and language groups at MHS.
The rise in the student population has also resulted in an increase in teaching, administrative, and support staff to support student needs. From 68 school personnel in 2014 to 80 personnel in 2018.
This year, 2024, MHS employs a total of 114 personnel that includes 58 classroom teachers, 3 instructors, and 15 support staff.
MHS is now the largest employment source of the Public School System that includes the 20 elementary, middle, and high school campuses, programs and departments.
MHS is led by Principal Jonathan Aguon and three vice principals: Melanie Sablan Rdiall, Preston Basa, and A. Romolo Orsini.
Growth of locally trained teaching pool
The global COVID-19 pandemic has bolstered the hiring of more locally trained and educated classroom teachers.
And this was good news for MHS.
“We’ve had a shift in teaching staff. Before the pandemic, we had a quiet tenured staff serving 10 or more years with us. But due to the pandemic, there werechange in approaches, with (some staff members) embarking on different ventures,” explains Principal Aguon.
“We’ve seen many new hires. A lot of them came from our local college, Northern Marianas College, which I am happy to see that our local college is producing high quality local educators,” adds Principal Aguon.
A big number of NMC-trained local teachers joined MHS post-pandemic and represents “about 40 percent” of the overall teaching pool of the largest high school in the CNMI.
According to the educator, these locally hired teachers are “eager and excited” who are ready to teach.
To add to its teaching demographics, MHS also has the most classroom teachers that have attained a doctorate in education—with 3 teachers,. There 2 more teachers that are now pursuing the highest professional postgraduate program.
Although the indigenous people, the Chamorros and Carolinians, comprise the largest ethnic groups, Marianas High School is also influenced by a blend of students from various Micronesian island states, the Republic of Palau, Marshall Islands, the Philippines, Japan, Korea, China, Thailand, Bangladesh, and the U.S. mainland.
The English language is the link that bonds the education process with the environment.
At the opening of the current school year, 2023-2024, MHS has a total enrollment of 1,600-plus.
Of this number, 40 percent are Filipinos, 20 percent Chamorro, 6 percent Carolinian, 9 percent Chinese, 4 percent Koreans, and the rest are from other Micronesian ethnicities.
“We are truly proud of our diverse student ethnicity. This is very important in maintaining the supportive learning environment that we have,” says Vice Principal Melanie S. Rdiall.
Principal Aguon agrees.
“I’m not sure if there is any other school in the CNMI that has the ethnic makeup that we do. What does this tell us—it lends into the culture of embracing diversity.
(UTS)
MHS Admin 2023
