I need help with a paper about High Schools for the Performing and Visual Arts!

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 7/27/05 at 3:24pm

I have a report to do about High Schools for the Performing and Visual Arts, and I know that some of you might have gone to these schools or know something about them, so I need your help.

I'd like to know the advantages and disadvantages of attending one.

I'd like to know how they delt with core subject matter, in relation to your "major", as I believe they are called. Were there certain classes that you don't have to take?

Were you prepared for college?

Since you have to focus on 1 aspect, what if you were doing drama or musical theater, and you always wanted to be in band, did you feel like you weren't getting exposed to different areas that you'd like to explore? I know I would be.

What were the teachers like?

Anything else you'd like to add would be fine. I can also use this an a resource too, so post away!

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 7/27/05 at 3:26pm

I have a TON of friends who go to the Arts Magnet High School in Dallas.
I'm going to hang out with a few of them later today so I'll ask for you.

Updated On: 7/27/05 at 03:26 PM

[CapnHook]

Posted: 7/27/05 at 4:19pm

I graduated from a school of the arts.

It included grades 6-12. It was a lottery system in a magnet school. No tuition.

The arts included were drama, photography, music, band, visual art (sculpting, drawing, painting, etc.), media art (computers, journalism (school paper)), and dance.

I was a drama "focus" (ie, Major).

You were allowed to stay in the school as long as you took arts classes. If you stayed within a specific major in all your years at the school (meaning you took classes in your art each year you attended the school) then when you graduated you received a special diploma that means you were elegible for scholarships in the state's universities (only state schools, not private colleges).

In our drama department, we had several different types of classes and had four mainstage shows a year, including one musical. The school also had sports (almost everything minus football and men's basketball) but these did not count as arts. They were extra-curicular.

In terms of core classes - everyone was required to take a certain amount of english, math, sciences, social studies, foriegn language, etc. The school offered four different "tracks" for getting a degree, and each means you get a different dilpoma.

In my case, I was required to take 4 english, 2 foriegn language, 3 sciences, 3 math, 3 social studies, 11 electives (arts classes and other). Might be forgetting something. And you were also required to take specific classes in each academic field, in addition to getting up to a specific point in each field. For example, it was required to take World History and U.S. History for social sciences. Then other options includes Socialogy and Psychology. You had to take two years of foreign language OF THE SAME language. Etc.

I also went to a regular public high school my freshman year. So I know what I missed.

I hated public school. Loved the school for the arts. The teachers expected you to do all your work and you were not treated special. The only thing different from public high school was you were allowed to miss class (with teacher's permission) for rehearsals/activieis in your arts. You had to be passing the class and have mostly all your work done in order to be excused. You had to make up tests. Some teachers didn't let you miss for tests.

The teachers were the same as public high school teachers. Except the arts teachers were exceptional in that they only had to focus on specific arts. In public high school, an English teach may also teach drama.

Our theatre dept. had a huge black box theatre as well as the auditorium. There was a technical theatre dept. and the acting dept. Many different classes, from children's theatre to shakespeare to ensemble to comedy, etc etc etc.

In the end, it prepared me for college better than the public school would have. I have special training in my desired career that I could have never gotten in any other public school. I also had much more training than I would have. Public high school typically does one play a year. My school did four mainstage and then several other dozen smaller shows a year!!

[Elphaba]

Posted: 7/27/05 at 5:01pm

Capn, you said:

"I graduated from a school of the arts.
It included grades 6-12. It was a lottery system in a magnet school. No tuition."

"I hated public school.
In the end, it prepared me for college better than the public school would have."

um, as I work with schools all over Southern California and Hawaii.......I do know that magnet schools ARE public schools........LAUSD has math, science, medical, and many other sorts of magnets. Many San Diego USD schools have mini-magnet programs on their campuses.

There are only public and private schools.....a magnet school is a public school

so I am confused as to what you mean.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 7/27/05 at 7:58pm

Thank you all! Anyone else?

[CapnHook]

Posted: 7/27/05 at 8:44pm

Elphaba - I mean a typical public school rather than the magnet school, which was a school of the arts. Yes, technically it was a public school, but it was different.

[ElphieDefiesGravity]

Posted: 7/27/05 at 10:10pm

Dude, CapnHook. We HAVE a men's basketball team and Sociology is not offered at our school. Get it right! :-P

Also, at this school, there are seven classes per day, instead of the usual six, so everyone gets three electives, rather than just two.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 7/27/05 at 10:31pm

Oops, thought there wasn't... is it new?

What's the other one besides Psychology you can take?

[ElphieDefiesGravity]

Posted: 7/27/05 at 10:38pm

No, it's not new, silly.

Well, you have to take Civics(ELPS), and there might be AP Euro being offered this year, but other than that, nothing.