Tarlac National High School (TNHS; fil, Pambansang Mataas na Paaralan ng Tarlac), formerly Tarlac High School ( fil, Mataas na Paaralan ng Tarlac), is a
public high school in
Tarlac City,
Philippines. Established on September 2, 1902 by
American Thomasites, it is the oldest
public high school
State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in pa ...
system in the country.
It is one of the largest secondary schools in the region with over 7,000 student population.
The current head of the school is Dr. Yolanda Gonzales. TNHS has two campuses within Tarlac City—the main campus, located along Macabulos Drive, San Roque, and the annex campus, located along
MacArthur Highway in San Miguel.
The annex campus has been officially known as Jose V. Yap National High-School since october 5 of 2021 but locals still regard it as TNHS annex due to the fact that it has been an annex of TNHS for a long period of tim
History
Tarlac National High School was founded on September 2, 1902 by the
American Thomasites during the
Insular Government of the Philippines, early years of the American period in the Philippines, becoming the first
public high school
State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in pa ...
in the country.
Tarlac deputy division superintendent Frank Russell White served as its first principal.
The school celebrated its 110th anniversary with an
alumni homecoming, as well as the construction of the Alumni Building, which will house the memorabilia from the school's history and alumni.
On October 28, 2015, a fire razed the original main building as well as the social hall of the school, prompting the creation of a resolution that sought the school to be recognized as a
national historical site by the
National Historical Commission in 2017.
The school celebrated its 120th anniversary in 2022. The school had a
Mass as well as a video presentation shown to its students regarding the school's history.
Notable alumni
*
Carlos P. Romulo, Philippine representative to the
United Nations,
resident commissioner during the
Commonwealth era. Served as the
foreign affairs secretary In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...
on three separate occasions (1950-51, 1963-64, 1968-84), as well as
education secretary in two separate occasions (1944-45, 1965-1967).
*
Jose Roy Moncada, first
senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
from Tarlac. A
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
in the province was named after him.
*
Onofre Corpuz, served as Education secretary (1965-68), and president of the
University of the Philippines.
*
Jorge Bocobo, lawyer and journalist who was the principal author of the
Civil Code of the Philippines.
References
{{Educational institutions in Tarlac , state=collapsed
High schools in Tarlac
Education in Tarlac City
Educational institutions established in 1902
1902 establishments in the Philippines