Center of Teacher Education of the Philippines
The phrase normal school is traceable to the French 辿cole normale, the institution for higher learning in France in the 18th century.
The present Philippine Normal University was originally the Philippine Normal School (PNS), the first institution of higher learning established during the American occupation of the Philippines. Created by Act No. 74 of the Philippine Commission, it gave Filipinos training in the science of teaching. The PNS formally opened on September 1, 1901, with Mr. Elmer B. Bryan as its first superintendent. Seven other Americans succeeded him before the designation of Mr. Manuel Escarilla as the first Filipi