History of Pila

A new public school system was introduced in 1901 by the “Thomasites” (so-called because they had arrived aboard the ship Thomas). Miss Burnetta Hoyles was the first to be assigned to Pila to teach the primary course. Although he held office in Sta. Cruz, the superintendent for Laguna, Mr. Roderick McCloud, was quite active in the town. For the school, they used the venerable stone edifice of the school which had been built under the Spaniards and which still stands today as the town museum. (Elementary education or primera enseñanza had been started in Pila with the establishment of the parish in the 16th century). The Thomasites were astonished to find a lady teacher in the town who could speak English – Srta. Doña Mercedes Lina Rivera (1879-1932). A maestra superior in the Spanish system, Miss Rivera had learned English at the newly opened Colegio de la Consolacion (1901) of the Filipino Augustinian sisters in Manila. One of the nuns, Sor Catalina de Jesus, had the foresight to study English in Hong Kong in anticipation of the impending changes under American rule. An accomplished pianist and composer, Miss Rivera’s musical ear had helped her learn the new language easily albeit with British accent. Here the Thomasites were supposed to “civilize” an isolated town, which had turned out to have already developed a high degree of culture as represented by this trilingual lady educator. (In contrast, Mr. McCloud and Miss Hoyles could speak only their native tongue). After about a month of “retraining,” Miss Rivera was made an assistant in teaching the American language (Gleeck 1981:44-50; Ruiz 1964:6, 10; Santiago 1992: 14-25).(61)