THE BATAAN High School for the Arts has started its pioneering class with 40 students this school year although the construction of its building has yet to be completed.

The BHSA offers Visual Arts, Theater Arts, Media Arts, Creative Writing, Folk Dance, Ballet and Music.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones visited the school in Bagac to check the construction work.

“I am interested in the development of the Bataan High School for the Arts. This school will further improve the talent of our young individuals while promoting the Philippine culture and arts. I congratulate the regional office for your efforts in establishing this school which is necessary along with the emergence of technology,” Briones said.

The school is expected to be finished next year.

The BHSA will have an administration building, a three-story dormitory building, a congregation hall, an academic building with 10 classrooms and a five-story building with cafeteria, studio and practice rooms.

The school is administered and supervised by DepEd, in coordination with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the Cultural Center of the Philippines. It is implementing a general secondary curriculum with a special focus on the arts.

Briones recognized Bataan as a strategic location for the school, saying the province is rich in culture and heritage.

“Bataan occupies a special place in history and the hearts and minds of Filipinos. No Filipino should call themselves a Filipino if he does not know Bataan,” the DepEd chief said.