The Gurukula started almost the same time when VEV (Vraja Eco Village) also started to take shape and form in 2016. The temple building was already up in 2015 (or even earlier) it was a very simple structure. When His Holiness Giridhari Swami Srila Guru Maharaja came everything moved faster. That included devotees who also relocated from the city in Metro Manila to the temple-farm-community. Families with thier children arrived and as such the need for a Krishna conscious school was obvious. So to fast track and accommodate the students the school facilities was quickly done that were nipa hut classrooms and constructed using indigenous materials such as bamboo and “kugon” grass.
In the beginning a Filipino mataji with a background in Basic Education based in New Zealand came to spearhead the project and was appointed as the school headmaster or principal. A staff of licensed devotee-teachers were hired as well to teach academic subjects. However, as fate would have it, the first year of operation did not work out and things had to change.
So the next school year (SY) 2017-2018, Sridama dasa was then assigned as the acting school headmaster/principal, and is still in that role upto present. Aside from being the acting school principal he is also teaching academic subject and sastra subject such as Bhagavad-gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, Mahabharata and Ramayan. Although he is not by profession a full pledge licensed teacher or have a degree on Education he nonetheless studied and was trained to be a Bhakti Sastri teacher in VIHE (Vrindavan) in 1999. As such he has extensive experience in teaching the sastra to devotees. Furthermore, he has been in the temple management since 1996 as temple president. Suffice to say he had more than enough skills and experience to somehow start and run a school.
Around this time (August 2016) His Holiness Giridhari Swami Srila Guru Maharaja acquired the service of His Grace Prana prabhu. He has been involved with ISKCON Education for the last 30 years. He came for one month and trained the devotee-teachers and gave valuable advise on how to move forward to establish a ligitimate school.
The teaching staff is comprised of the following devotees: Mother Moksha Laskmi a licensed professional teacher with experience in teaching at public schools for more than 25 years, at present she is the preschool teacher. Mother Mohini Gopika a licensed professional teacher as well with intensive experience in private schools, Murari Gupta prabhu a licensed professional teacher and Rajahamsa prabhu also a licensed professional teacher with 10 years experience in teaching in public schools.
Throughout the years, now in it’s seventh year, the Gurukula has developed and improved in all areas such as the physical facilities, curriculum, quality education, discipline and solid structure of parents-teachers partnership. The classrooms are now made of durable construction materials such as cement and steel roofing. There is also a world-class playground and spacious prasadam hall (canteen). And all these years the Gurukula students have always been a integral part of major festival in the temple by presenting dramas, dance and song for the pleasure of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai, Srila Prabhuapada and the devotees in general.
It is the fervent desire that the Gurukula would be able to produce Krishna conscious children who will be the next generation of preachers and thus spread widely and maintain the legacy of ISKCON fouder acarya—Srila Prabhupada.