Excluding the learning institutes organized by the government, the educational landscape during American colonial rule in Davao City and the years after the liberation was largely the playground of sectarian and private schools.
In his table of Catholic schools, he enlisted nine schools with their year of founding and enrollments based on levels. First is Immaculate Conception College, erstwhile known as Colegio de San Pedro, inaugurated in 1905 as Escuela Catolica de San Pedro. During that year, it had an enrolment of 746 pupils in elementary, 250 in secondary, and 150 in collegiate, or a total of 1,146. At the time, it was the only institute offering tertiary education in the region.
Saint Peter’s High School of Toril, a co-ed institution, had 252 secondary students. Holy Cross of Digos, opened to boys and girls, had 757 elementary pupils and 150 high school students. Holy Cross of Tagum, meanwhile, had 246 secondary students while Holy Cross of Calinan had 150 high school enrollees. Immaculate Heart of Mary Academy in Mati City, had 157 elementary pupils. Including Ateneo de Davao, all the schools following it were organized in 1947.
Four other non-sectarian or private schools were listed, namely Mindanao Colleges , Panabo Institute, Rizal Memorial Colleges , and Samal Institute.