St. Joseph's School - Pandacan, Manila (SJS) is a private parochial school operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila. It is located in the district of Pandacan in the City of Manila, Philippines, established by His Eminence Rufino Cardinal Santos, D.D. in 1955 to provide a school that would enable the children of Pandacan and its neighboring towns an opportunity to receive good Roman Catholic oriented education.
The school's first few years saw the rapid growth in the population of the school, and in 1959, under the direction of Sister Marie Alice Dieltiens, ICM, the school's first principal, a new building was built for the high school level, which would admit only female students.
The school's enrollment continued to grow, however, with some classes being held in make-shift classrooms in the Parish Office building. Thus, with the assistance of parents, the school was able to obtain a loan to build a new building. This annex to the high school building was blessed and opened on November 28, 1971 by H.E. Rufino Cardinal Santos, D.D., with Bishop Bienvenido Lopez and Parish Priest Msgr. Victor Serrano.
In 2002, the parish priest of the church gave up the directorship of the school to concentrate on parish work. The Archbishop of Manila, Jaime Cardinal L. Sin, D.D. appointed Rev. Fr. Nolan G. Que, Ph.D., to the post of School Director. Long time St. Joseph teacher Emolyn G. Guamil was appointed Assistant Director in 2004, while Mrs. Elizabeth D. Mendoza was appointed Institutional Principal the same year.
In schoolyear 2005-06, the school opened its multi-purpose gymnasium at what used to be the location of the elementary school chapel. The new gym serves as the main facility for the various physical education-related programs of the school. Also during this schoolyear, Fr. Que was given the task of supervising other schools nearby, including Paco Catholic School, St. Peter the Apostle School, Ermita Catholic School, Pius the X School and Malate Catholic School.
For schoolyear 2007-08, the school is set to change its official school uniform colors for girls from navy blue (skirt and tie) to a dark red plaid (skirt and tie).