resources available to as many communities as possible. De La Salle Zobel opened in June 1978 with an initial offering of Prep to Grade Six Levels. The Grade School Department became fully operational when Grade 7 was added in June 1979 and in June 1980, the High School Department opened, initially without Freshman classes. It became fully operational in June 1983. Br. Raymond Bronowicz FSC, then the Vice-President for Administration of De La Salle University, was appointed as Zobel's first director. School emblem The double-A dividing the bottom part of the shield was derived from the Ayala logo since the school property is part of Ayala Alabang Village developed by the Ayala Land Corporation. The bottom center bears the Christmas Nativity Star of Faith/Hope known as the Signum Fidei Star the official 350-year-old institutional, worldwide seal of the De La Salle Brothers. Below the Signum Fidei Star are the three broken chevrons of 1,000-year-old Indivisa Manent crest found on the Royal Coat of Arms of Saint La Salle's family. The 3 broken chevrons represent the 3 broken leg bones suffered by warrior chieftain Johan Salla, a great heroic ancestor of Saint La Salle, who fiercely defended to protect Christian Spain from the marauding Moorish armies a thousand years ago. The palm branch with 16 leaves at the bottom left honors the 16 De La Salle Brothers who were martyred along with several friends during the 1945 brutal Japanese occupation of the Philippines. The bottom right section of the shield bears the small, iconographic symbol of St. James, the seashell, found in Santiago de Compostela, Cathedral of the Primate of Spain. Santiago is the patron saint of the late Santiago Zobel after whom the school was named. The three small stars at the corners of this section were taken from the official Coat of Arms of the Republic of the Philippines. The upper section of the shield contains the Holy Cross of Jesus with rays, as a reminder that the primary purpose of the Lasallian educational mission is to lead every student to Christ and to spread the Good News of God's Kingdom. Above the shield is a dove spreading its wings, symbolizing peace and representing the Holy Spirit who sends His light to renew the face of the earth. The color Green gives honor to the first Irish-American Christian Brothers of pre-war De La Salle and White represents the Philippines