The Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA), the premier performing and visual arts high school in the Western U.S., has set January 22, 2010 as the deadline for applying to all art departments of the school for enrollment in the Fall 2010.
Located on the campus of California State University LA (CSULA), LACHSA is celebrating 25 years of nurturing Los Angeles talent. In addition to meeting academic requirements, prospective students gain admission to the school through audition or portfolio review in one of four arts departments: Dance, Music (instrumental or vocal), Theatre, and Visual Arts. Film/TV and Musical Theatre Ensemble are strong programs within LACHSA available as electives to enrolled students. Each department sets the standards for its own audition or portfolio review process. Detailed information about the application/audition process can be downloaded from LACHSA’s website at www.lachsa.net.
“Our goal is to continue to expand our applicant base to ensure greater diversity and talent from all of Los Angeles County’s communities, to identify gifted students who excel in the arts, and provide them with a tuition-free opportunity to nurture their unique skills and help them set tangible goals for their futures,” states George Simpson, who assumed the position of LACHSA principal in the Fall of 2008. Prior to assuming this post, Simpson was director of the Roland Hayes School of Music in Boston and a founding faculty member of Boston ’s prestigious Art Academy .
LACHSA’s socio-economic and ethnically diverse student body represents over 80 school districts throughout Los Angeles County . Seeking to further increase diversity, LACHSA is committed to bringing arts to underserved areas of Los Angeles . Through a generous grant from the William H. Gluck Foundation, LACHSA is participating in student outreach performances, workshops, teacher information sessions, and school visits by LACHSA Leadership Ambassadors.
LACHSA is a model small learning community offering students a direct connection to higher education through a unique collaboration with CSULA. Strong in the belief that artists can be scholars as well, LACHSA offers a college preparatory curriculum (with a full range of AP and Honors ccourses) coupled with an arts conservatory program, which receives support from the LACHSA Foundation.
More than 95 percent of graduates — significant numbers with university credit earned at CSULA — go on to four-year colleges and universities, including: New York University , Boston University , USC, UC Berkeley, UCLA, University of Michigan , Julliard, Parsons, Otis, CalArts, Art Center College of Design, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, among many others.
LACHSA ranks academically in the top 10 percent of Californian schools, and is the recipient of numerous awards, including: California Distinguished School for academic excellence, Golden Bell Award (visual arts program), GRAMMY Signature School (music program) and Bravo Award (Music Center of Los Angeles County) for excellence in arts education.
For more information about LACHSA and its admissions process, visit www.lachsa.net or call 323 343-2565. The school is located at 5151 State University Drive , Los Angeles , CA 90032 .
