Father Dueñas Memorial School (FDMS) is an all-male

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

high school located in Chalan-Pago

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

territory of

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

. It is within the territory of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Agaña The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Agaña (Latin: ''Archidiœcesis Aganiensis'', Spanish: ''Arquidiócesis de Agaña'') is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. It comprises the United States dependen ...

. The school is accredited by the

Western Association of Schools and Colleges The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) was an organization providing School accreditation, accreditation of public and private universities, colleges, secondary school, secondary and elementary schools in California and Hawaii, ...

. Most Rev. Apollinaris W. Baumgartner, OFM Cap. founded the school in 1948. It was named after Father Jesus Baza Dueñas, a

Chamorro Chamorro may refer to: * Chamorro people, the indigenous people of the Mariana Islands in the Western Pacific * Chamorro language, an Austronesian language indigenous to The Marianas * Chamorro Time Zone, the time zone of Guam and the Northern Mar ...

priest who was beheaded by Japanese forces during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The school began as a

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

to teach young men to become priests; it became a

university preparatory school A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily designed to prepare students for higher education ...

History

On October 1, 1948, Bishop Apollinaris Wiliam Baumgartner, O.F.M. Cap. established Father Dueñas Memorial School (FDMS) as a minor seminary and a high school for young men, near the site of Fr. Duenas’ martyrdom. The Stigmatine Fathers were the first administrators of FDMS and the school graduated its first batch of 12 young men in 1950. The first buildings were simple Quonset huts that were gradually replaced by concrete structures with the help of the FD families and community volunteers. Subsequently, FDMS was administered by the Capuchin Franciscan Friars (1959-1974), the

Marist Brothers The Marist Brothers of the Schools, commonly known as simply the Marist Brothers, is an international community of Catholic religious institute of brothers. In 1817, St. Marcellin Champagnat, a Marist priest from France, founded the Marist Brother ...

(1974-1989), the Canons Regular (1989-1991), Mr. Jack Stettenbenz (1991), Mr. William Roth (1991-2009), the Salesians of Don Bosco (2009-2012), Fr. Jeffrey C. San Nicolas (2012-2016), Mr. Tony Thompson (2016-2018), and currently Mr. Ismael Perez served as principal.

List of Principals

* Fr. Fulgence Petrie, O.F.M. Cap. (1959–1974) * Br. Gregory Seubert, F.M.S. (1974–1987) * Brother Pius (1988) * Fr. Efron (1989) * Fr. Jim Greer (1990) * Mr. Jack Stettenbenz+ (1991) * Mr. William Roth (1991–2009) * Fr. Vitaliano "Chito" Dimaranan, S.D.B. (2009–2012) * Fr. Jeffrey C. San Nicolas FD'84 (2012–2016) * Mr. Tony Thompson+ (2016-2018) * Mr. Ismael Perez (2018-Present)

Student life

Academics

As a college preparatory school, students are required to take four years of English, mathematics, science, social studies, and theology. Students at Father Dueñas Memorial School compete in numerous academic competitions each year. Academic competitions include the

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, Academic Challenge Bowl,

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, and the

National Forensic League The National Speech and Debate Association is an American student debating society. It was established in 1925 as the National Forensic League; the name was changed in 2014. It is one of four major national organizations that direct high school ...

. Many alumni of Father Dueñas Memorial School have attend prestigious colleges and universities, such as

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

, and

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

Athletics

Father Dueñas Memorial School is the only private school on the island to offer all of the Independent Interscholastic Athletic Association of Guam (IIAAG) sports for boys. These sports include football, golf, basketball, paddling, cross country, soccer, rugby, volleyball, track and field, wrestling, baseball, and tennis.

Arts

Father Dueñas Memorial School encourages student participation in areas outside of academics and athletics. Every year since 1981, the schools hosts its annual songfest competition. Starting as a simple song competition among each class currently in attendance, it has evolved over the years to include multiple performances by each class, with choreography and visual effects. In addition to songfest, the students participate in an annual Christmas concert and are allowed to audition and participate in the school production.

Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps

The Father Dueñas Memorial School Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps Phoenix Company was started by Commander Charles E. White in 1973, as one of the first JROTC programs on the island and the only NJROTC program at the time. It is currently the only NJROTC program offered at a private school on the island. With approximately 20-25% of the school's population enrolled in the program at any given time, the program has the highest percentage of students in the NJROTC program out of Guam's schools that have NJROTC program established. The program is known for sending graduates to the

United States Service academies The United States service academies, also known as the United States military academies, are United States federal academies, federal academies for the undergraduate education and training of commissioned officers for the United States Armed Fo ...

or the

Reserve Officers' Training Corps The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in all ...

program each year. Notable graduates of the program include Governor Felix Camacho ('76) and Rear Admiral Peter Gumataotao ('76).

Notable alumni

* Rudy Sablan, valedictorian '50, politician and

Lieutenant Governor of Guam The Guamanian self-governing government consists of a locally elected governor, lieutenant governor and a fifteen-member Legislature. The first popular election for governor and lieutenant governor took place in 1970. The current lieutenant gov ...

(1975–1979) * Vicente C. Pangelinan, '74, senator * James Espaldon, '75, senator *

Felix Camacho Felix James Pérez Camacho (born October 30, 1957) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 7th Governor of Guam from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party of Guam, he had previously served as a six-term senator in th ...

, '76, governor * Peter Gumataotao, '76, US Navy Admiral *

Manny Crisostomo Manny Crisostomo (born November 28, 1958) is a prolific photojournalist, the only Pulitzer Prize Winner from Guam. Biography He was born in Sinajana, Guam, and attended Father Duenas Memorial School. He studied at the University of Guam and ...

, '76, Pulitzer Prize winner * Eddie Baza Calvo, '79, governor * Frank B. Aguon Jr., '84, senator * Roland San Nicolas, RFK LibrarianKUAM *

Leonardo Rapadas Leonardo Matias Rapadas, better known as Lenny Rapadas, is a Guamanian lawyer, who served as the U.S. Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands from 2003 to 2010 and as the attorney general of Guam from 2011 to 2015. ...

, United States Attorney Guam and CNMI 2003-2010, Attorney General of Guam 2011-201
''Roland San Nicolas''
Hagatna, July 2012.

References

External links

Father Dueñas Memorial School
{{DEFAULTSORT:Father Duenas Memorial School Catholic secondary schools in Guam Educational institutions established in 1947 1947 establishments in Guam