About us

1924
The Davao Chong Hua High School was originally named Davao Chinese High School with only thirty grade school students on its founding on June 3, 1924. The school was formally opened at a rented space in San Pedro Street. It had only two classrooms. The school offers Chinese and English programs, a dual curriculum with the Chinese Program which aims to preserve and propagate the Chinese language, customs and tradition.

The first Principal was Mr. Lee Leng Tee and the first teachers were Mr. Ho Leng Ortega and Mr. Te Lun Tek. At this time, Don Francisco Juna Lim Villa-Abrille (Lim Chuan Hun) donated a one hectare lot for the school. The construction of the building started in October and was completed two months later. In January 1925, classes composed of grade schoolers were held for the first time in the new school site.

Although the school was founded in 1924, the Elementary Education was recognized by the Department of Education Culture and Sports only in August 1927, and granted Government Recognition by the Department of Education for its complete Elementary Course effective August 9, 1938. Seven years after in 1945, the school had its first high school graduates, consisting of 6 students.

After twenty years of development, three-classroom buildings and one dormitory were constructed, with a student population of more than three hundred. However, towards the end of Japanese occupation during the 2nd World War, all the buildings, except one, were destroyed. After the war, four more classroom buildings and one dormitory were constructed.

1965 – 1976
In 1965, the city government expropriated 1,789 square meters of the school property for Sta. Ana Avenue, which cuts through the school campus dividing it into two. In 1976, in compliance with Presidential Decree No. 176 Filipinizing alien schools all over the country, the name Davao Chinese High School was changed to Davao Central High School.

1983 – 1998
From 1983 to 1998, the Board of Trustees under the leadership of its dynamic Chairman, Mr. Guilbert Go, completed the construction of two 3-storey concrete buildings and one 4-storey building. This paved the way to start the modernization of the Davao Central High School, now Davao Chong Hua High School.

Mr. Delfin Go succeeded Mr. Guilbert Go as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees in 1998. During his term, a modern 3-storey building was constructed and named “Tan Yan Kee Memorial Preschool” in honor of the father of Dr. Lucio Tan, Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Trustees. Another grand project, the Jolly Central Covered Court, was donated by an alumnus, Mr. Tony Tan Caktiong. After the term of Mr. Delfin Go, Mr. Chua Tun-Chuan and Mr. Jesus Uy succeeded one after the other, as the Chairman of the Board. During their terms, the school continued to march toward achieving quality education. The school passed the Educational Service Contracting (ESC) Accreditation.

2008 – 2010
In 2008, the Board of Trustees elected Mr. Benito C. Mesina as Chairman. Under his leadership, the school underwent transformation: repainting of the elementary and high school buildings, beautification of the campus, and expansion of the elementary and high school laboratories and the purchase of additional new laboratory equipment. He invited Kindergarten experts to improve the preschool education, granted loans to all teachers to purchase computer lap top units as an aid to teaching, and initiated the significant increase in the compensation of faculty and staff.

2010 – 2012
In 2010, Mr. Dominic Peng Kee So succeeded Mr. Benito Mesina as the new Chairman of the Board of Trustees. During his chairmanship, the school was granted the Association of Christian Schools, Colleges and Universities (ACSCU) Level 1 status. The sports program and the faculty fund were given fuller support. With fresh perspective on leadership, the Chairperson, together with the Executive Committee, envisions a different Davao Central High School-a school responsive to the challenges of its society.

2012 – 2014
Mr. Edison L. Lu’s total commitment to quality education for the Davao Chong Hua High School marked his first year of leadership with major and varied undertakings. Finance/Accounting procedures were systematized with the hiring of a prestigious competent accounting firm. For physical facilities, repainting of the preschool building, shelves, cabinet, tables & chairs was done. The grade school and high school library floor plans, shelves and tables were restructured and repainted to provide more conducive environment for study and research. Home Economics and livelihood education and laboratories facilities and equipment were upgraded. Brand new electric fans were installed in all classrooms to improve ventilation. To ensure adequate water supply for the building, three (3) water tanks with one thousand (1,000) liters capacity each with complete pumps and accessories were provided. New sound systems for the auditorium were installed.

For academic and faculty, innovations on instruction, and students’ programs gained momentum; new volumes of reading materials were infused in the library collection; faculty development was intensified, and the rating increase scheme institutionalized. This year, the school earned another 3-year ESC Accreditation Status. Realizing the importance of global connectivity and technical advancement, Mr. Edison L. Lu made possible the realization of the Website of the Davao Central High School. With Mr. Edison Lu’s total commitment, developments will continue as the main thrust to prepare our students for the 21st century challenges and to heighten the promotion of the school as the hallmark of quality Filipino and Chinese education.

For the first half of his second term, Mr. Lu approved the following programs: scholarship for the graduate studies of the faculty, full scholarship for the grade school Chinese and English valedictorians, provision for a Chinese library, renovation of the building façade, and other improvements in the facilities, and additional manpower for cleanliness maintenance. For the institution, the school has now achieved Level 2 ACSCU-AAI Accreditation.

2014 – 2016
Edison L. Lu was re-elected Board of Trustees Chairperson for a second term together with his team. This re-election paved the way for more innovations to support quality education of the institution. Among the significant ones were the following: earning the level 2 accreditation status, gaining DepEd approval for the K to 12 Senior High School program offering for 2016 – 2017, scholarship grant for the faculty interested to pursue further studies, full scholarship grant to the grade school English and Chinese valedictorians, construction of the Mess hall for the faculty, provision of a separate Chinese Library from the English Library, renovation of the façade of the building, creation of the botanical garden in support of instruction, and other improvements. It was also during his term that the Alumni Batch ’64 donated seed money of one million (1M) for the faculty fund. To date, the Board’s main thrust is to attain the Level 3 accreditation status and implement the Senior High Program beginning SY 2016-2017.

2016 – 2018
On May 6, 2016 Mr. Jacob Chua was inducted into office as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the term covering 2016-2018. Induction took place at the Pinnacle Hotel, Davao City. The new Chairman, Mr. Jacob Chua has the strong drive towards sound education, and is committed to provide the best education to the learners of Davao Chong Hua High School. His dedication towards quality education, excellence, productivity, and global competitiveness has been in collaboration with the alumni/alumnae, and the parents-teachers association (PTA). His leadership is identified by his wisdom, knowledge, keen intelligence, passion for excellence in education that is sound in both mind and character, and sensible action.

Under his leadership, Mrs. Tita Y. Ko, the representative of batch’66 announced in the evening of September 24, 2016 during the Alumni Homecoming program, the generous donation of batch’66 in the amount of five hundred thousand pesos (Php 500,000.00). This generous amount has been apportioned for the following projects: 204 sets of LED tube light, 7 units of LCD projector, 1 unit of DSLR Canon camera, 1 set of sound system for the audio visual room (AVR), 1 unit paper shredder, and 21 pcs. VGA 20 m. cable.

2018 – Present
In 2018, Mr. Domingo T. Uy succeeded Mr. Jacob Chua as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees. Under his chairmanship, the faculty room was fully air-conditioned, the TLE laboratory was upgraded, and the preschool unit, athletic room and scouting offices enhanced. During the Modified Blended Learning teaching method, the WiFi signal in the school is strengthened to make online teaching smooth and efficient. It was also in his leadership that the Alumni Batch ’94 donated 10 computer sets installed in the Internet Research Center (IRC).

Presently, the school is continuously updating and upgrading all areas especially the teaching and non-teaching components. The school maintains its productive culture, practices, and policies. Its Administrators, teachers, and staff all work together to consistently and continuously achieve the vision, and mission of the school.