Notre Dame - Siena School of Marbel is a Catholic institution in Koronadal City run by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate and Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena. ND-SSM has been a member of the Notre Dame Educational Association, a group of Notre Dame Schools in the Philippines under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary. History On June 23, 1946, Marbel received its first resident priest, Fr. Francis McSorley, OMI, the bishop of Sulu. He saw the need for and the value of a Catholic School in the midst of the growing community. Thus, on July 6, 1946, with the assistance from the RVM Sisters, he laid the foundation of Notre Dame of Marbel and was therefore, given credit as its founder and first director. Notre Dame of Marbel was coeducational at that time. The first group of Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena headed by the Prioress General, the late Mother Josefina Burgos, O.P. arrived on April 12, 1952. The School Year 1952-1953 marked the first operation of Notre Dame of Marbel Girls’ Department under the administration of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena. The school expanded with the opening of the Grade School in 1955. It was in 1976 that the application was approved for a change of name from Notre Dame of Marbel Girls’ Department to its official name, Notre Dame of Marbel for Girls. In 1979-1980 Notre Dame of Marbel for Girls became an exclusive school for girls from Kindergarten to Fourth Year High School. In School Year 1995-1996, the school started accepting boys in the Grade School and likewise opened its doors to the First and Second Year Boys in School Year 1997-1998, thus changing the school’s name Notre Dame of Marbel for Girls to Notre Dame of Marbel on August 22, 1997. The school has implemented the Dominican St. Catherine of Siena Schools System Development (OPSS-SD) Program, which is an attempt at a radical living of the Gospel and a participation in the building of basic ecclesial communities in the diocese. The OPSS-SD Program helped much in the development of the school especially in the preparation for the Philippine Association of Accredited Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU) accreditation. The PAASCU Team visited the High School for Preliminary Survey on February 11–13, 1991. After its first formal visit on September 14–15, 1992, Notre Dame of Marbel