ILOCOS NORTE NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL: A BRIEF HISTORY

The Ilocos Norte National High School has written a noble history of its own as testified
by thousands of illustrious alumni.

It started with the organization of a first year class in 1906 which was housed in the
Acosta Building, alongside elementary grades. A second year class was enrolled in
1909, followed by a third year in 1910. A complete 4-year high school course was
offered in 1916, exactly ten years after the establishment of the first year.

In 1907, the Ilocos Norte Provincial Board allocated funding for the school’s first
permanent building which, when completed in 1909, made it known as Ilocos Norte
Provincial High School. (That same structure later housed the first classes of the Ilocos
Norte School of Arts and Trades.)

Bigger enrolments necessitated the construction of a new school building in 1929 in an

adjacent site across the road where the INNHS main campus is now situated. One June
night in 1941, the building was unfortunately razed by fire. The new school year was
spent in the Provincial Stadium grandstands and in several rented houses around.
Under the Rehabilitation Act of 1916, an aid from the United States restored the gutted
building in 1946,

American educators administered the school in its early years. The first headmaster
was Mr. George Summers. Leaving in 1936, Mr. Muilenburg was the last. The school
administration was turned over to a Filipino, Mr. Jose Aguila, who served as Principal
from 1936-1937. Mr. Fermin Montano became the first alumnus who headed his alma
mater.

The Japanese occupation during the war witnessed the split of Ilocos Norte High
School, as it was also known, into virtually two schools in separate buildings – the Boys’
High School and the Girls’ High School.

June 18, 1964 was a milestone in the school’s history when RA 3989, authored by two
alumni congressmen, Antonio V. Raquiza and Simeon M. Valdez, converted the Ilocos
Norte Provincial High School into Ilocos Norte National High School. The act was
implemented July 1, 1965 when the country’s 21st national high school received a
national government aid of P100,000. Mr. Antonio Pascua enjoyed the distinction of
being the last Principal in the old provincial school and first in the newly nationalized
one.

Since its nationalization, INNHS has continued to etch a bold name in the firmament of
success. School Principals have come and gone, all sharing wisdom in catapulting the
school to fame.