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

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high school located in

Chalan-Pago Chalan Pago-Ordot () is a Villages of Guam, village in the United States territory of Guam, containing List of census-designated places in Guam, the communities of Chalan Pago and Ordot. It is located in the eastern-central part of the island a ...

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), 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 counte ...

, in the

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territory of

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. It is within the territory of the

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. The school is accredited by the

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. Most Rev. Apollinaris W. Baumgartner, OFM Cap. founded the school in 1948. It was named after Father Jesus Baza Dueñas, a Chamorro priest who was beheaded by Japanese forces during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The school began as a

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

to teach young men to become priests; it became a

university preparatory school A college-preparatory school (often shortened to prep school, preparatory school, college prep school or college prep academy) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily design ...

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 Church, Catholic religious institute of Religious brother, brothers. In 1817, Marcellin Champagnat, a Marist priest from Fr ...

(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. (1974–1986) * Brother Pius (1987) * 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 American Mathematics Competition, Academic Challenge Bowl,

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, and the

National Forensic League The National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA) is the largest interscholastic speech and debate organization serving middle school and high school students in the United States. It was formed as the National Forensic League in 1925 by Bruno Er ...

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

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Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, the

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

, and

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

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 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. While ROTC graduate officers serve in all branches o ...

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 List of Governors of Guam, governor, List of current United States lieutenant governors, lieutenant governor and a fifteen-member Legislature of Guam, Legislature. The first p ...

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

James Espaldon James Virata Espaldon (born June 21, 1956), also known as Jim Espaldon, is an American politician and lawyer. A member of the Republican Party, Espaldon is a former candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Guam in the 2010 gubernatorial election as ...

, '75, senator * Felix Camacho, '76, governor * Peter Gumataotao, '76, US Navy Admiral * Manny Crisostomo, '76, Pulitzer Prize winner *

Eddie Baza Calvo Edward Jerome Baza Calvo (born August 29, 1961) is an American politician who served as the eighth governor of Guam from January 3, 2011 to January 7, 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Calvo was a five-term Senator within the Legislature ...

, '79, governor * Frank B. Aguon Jr., '84, senator

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