The Special Program in the Arts is a program for learners with potentials or talents in the arts namely, Music, Dance, Theatre Arts, Visual Arts, Media Arts, and Creative Writing.
The program offers a comprehensive basic education centered on the arts, covering a range of art forms and disciplines. Arts education is an integral component of a balanced educational program, which aims to prepare graduates for the world of work or for higher education.
Special Program in the Arts
Vision
We envision holistically developed and excellent young artists through a learner-centered curriculum committed to the promotion of Filipino culture and heritage preservation.
Mission
To provide avenues where students with potential in any field of arts can progressively enhance their talents and skills towards the promotion of Filipino culture, heritage preservation and the development of global excellence.
Objectives
Develop knowledge and skills of students with potential in the Arts: Music, Visual Arts, Theater Arts, Media Arts, Creative Writing, Dance, and/or Traditional Arts.
Stimulate learners’ creativity and sense of imagination.
Hone the learners’ various facilities of expression to communicate their ideas and feelings through their chosen art forms.
Foster a sense of pride of being a Filipino through appreciation of culture and arts.
Cultivate aesthetic awareness and identity.
Description of the program
The Special Program in the Arts is a program for learners with potentials or talents in the arts namely, Music, Dance, Theatre Arts, Visual Arts, Media Arts, and Creative Writing.
The program offers a comprehensive basic education centered on the arts, covering a range of art forms and disciplines. Arts education is an integral component of a balanced educational program, which aims to prepare graduates for the world of work or for higher education.
The program was piloted in 2000–2004 in fifteen (15) junior high schools, one (1) from each region. After the pilot implementation, these schools were transformed into lead schools and later institutionalized. As lead schools, they shall encourage other schools to implement the program. This program has been adopted by other public and private high schools throughout the country.
The latest expansion of the SPA is the Senior High School career pathway, named Arts and Design Track which gives the learners the opportunities for work immersion and community involvement through the arts.
Curriculum Design
The Grades One to Three curriculum covers an integrated arts approach to the understanding and appreciation of the Arts. The content will also cover an appreciation of local culture, heritage, and expression of the arts.
This is designed for the learner to express ideas about the environment in an atmosphere of creativity, fun and play through the use of the body, space, sound, images, and stories.
The Grades Four to Five curriculum shall introduce the learners to the different art specializations, namely, Music, Dance, Theatre Arts, Creative Writing, Visual, and Media Arts.
Music focuses on how learners use their voices and or their bodies often in relation to other objects to convey artistic expression. The performers will focus on different emotions. Music facilitates the learners’ exploration of their various soundscapes and the discovery of their own media, both vocal and instrumental applying the foundations in music.
Dance develops the learners’ awareness of the human body as medium of self-expression, artistic expression, and non-verbal communication.
Theatre Arts focuses on the spontaneous expression of emotions and feelings through role playing, acting, strengthening the Theatre Artistic elements of music and dance performance.
In Visual Arts, Media Arts, and Creative Writing, the curriculum is designed to enable and facilitate the exploration and expression of stories and narrative is through the use of non-performative art forms such as texts, visuals (2D 3D), and media. The learners will be exposed to the use of both textual and non-textual metaphors to communicate ideas and emotions.
