St. Mary's Academy of Carmen

St. Mary's Academy of Carmen (SMAC) is a private Catholic school on Villarin Street in Carmen, Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental. It was founded in 1963 by Archbishop James T.G. Hayes as Liceo de Cagayan High School, later renamed Cathedral High School and then Cathedral School of Technology in 1977, before taking its current name on September 12, 1999. The school is owned and managed by the Congregation of the Religious of the Virgin Mary (RVM) and sits on a 5.4-hectare campus. SMAC is accredited by the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU) at Level II, having first earned Level I accreditation in 1998 and been upgraded in 2001; it is also affiliated with the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP). The school offers elementary and high school education. Its motto is 'Initium Sapientiae Timor Domini' ('The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom'), and its teams compete as the Blue Seraphims.