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High School of Music and Art |
| Established | 1984 |
|---|---|
| Type | Public Alternative High school |
| Principal | Kim Bruno |
| Founder | Fiorello H. La Guardia |
| Faculty | 1631 |
| 9–12 | |
| Location | 100 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, New York, USA |
| District | 10 |
| Campus | urban |
| Colors | Red and White |
| Newspaper | State of the Arts |
| Literary magazine | The Lively Arts |
| Merger of | The High School of Music & Art (1934) |
| and | High School of Performing Arts (1947) |
| Website | http://www.laguardiahs.org |
Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, also officially known as "H.S. 485" and informally as "LaGuardia Arts" (or to its students, "LaG" and referred to on its website as "La!"), is a high school specializing in teaching performing arts located near the Juilliard School in the Lincoln Center district of Manhattan, on Amsterdam Avenue between 65th Street and 64th Street. The school is operated by the New York City Department of Education.
Although it also offers academic diplomas, the school prepares public high school students for professional careers and/or conservatory study in dance, drama, the visual arts, vocal, instrumental music, and technical theatre.
Informally known as LaGuardia Arts, or LaGuardia High School, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts is the only school among the nine specialized high schools in New York City that receives special funding from the New York State legislature through the Hecht Calandra Act.
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Adjacent to New York's Lincoln Center for Performing Arts, the building that is now home to LaGuardia Arts was opened in 1984 to bring together two "sister" arts high schools of the day, The High School of Music & Art (started by Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia in 1936) and the High School of Performing Arts, established in 1947. Prior to the building's completion in 1984, Music & Art (a/k/a "The Castle on the Hill") was located on Convent Avenue and 135th Street in what has since become part of City College (CCNY)'s South Campus; Performing Arts was located in midtown on 46th Street, both in Manhattan. Mayor La Guardia regarded Music & Art as the "most hopeful accomplishment" of his long administration as mayor2.
The movie Fame and the TV Series Fame both dramatized student life at the School of Performing Arts prior to its merger into LaGuardia High School, and an Off-Broadway show of Fame was produced in 2003-2004.
Alumni from LaGuardia and its two legacy schools, Music & Art and Performing Arts, are active in supporting the students and the school through scholarships and support for special programs, school events, and reunions held at the school and throughout the world. The school's alumni organization has a full-time executive director and offices at the school. It functions as an independent charitable organization organized under the laws of New York.
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This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (February 2008) |
Students at LaGuardia take a full academic course load while participating in conservatory-style arts concentration. Each student majors in one studio, choosing from among Dance, Drama, Art, Vocal Music, Instrumental Music, and Technical Theatre.
Many graduates from LaGuardia continue their studies in universities or conservatories after graduation.citation needed.
LaGuardia follows up to a 12 period day, including one lab per week, yet most students have a 9 or 10 period schedule. Periods are 40 minutes long with a 4 minute break between each period. Each student spends a minimum of three periods in studio classes (four for Dance and Drama majors, whose studios fulfill physical education requirements), and usually five to six periods in English, Math, Science, History, Language, and/or Physical Education, with one period for lunch. By state law, students are required to complete four years of English and History classes, three years of Math, Science and Physical Education, and two years of a Foreign Language. Students who do not meet their studio requirements at graduation leave without a studio-endorsed diploma.citation needed
LaGuardia has offered an honors track to students entering after 2006, known as the DaVinci Program. DaVinci Scholars take more difficult classes and participate in a supplementary after-school enrichment program. Students not in the program may still take individual honors classes. LaGuardia also offers Advanced Placement courses in English Language and Composition, English Literature and Composition, Spanish, French, Japanese, and Italian languages, United States History, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Statistics, Chemistry, Biology, Environmental Science, Art History and Music Theory.citation needed
The following people are alumni of LaGuardia High School and its two legacy schools, The High School of Music & Art, and the School of Performing Arts High School.3:
Students are accepted based on auditions (Dance, Drama, Instrumental Music and Vocal Music) and portfolios (Art and Technical Theater). Their academic and attendance records are also scrutinized with most incoming students scoring at least a "3" - meeting standards - on their seventh grade standardized exams. Auditions are held in November and December.
It is difficult to be accepted into one of the specialized schools, considering the thousands of students who audition, from all 5 boroughs of New York. Those auditioning for LaGuardia must realise that chances of securing a spot depend upon the ratio between the number of spots and number of applicants within that specific department; in other words, some departments are harder to get into then others. In the instrumental department, auditions are separated even further; the child would be competing only against children who auditioned on the same instrument, and therefore it is harder to get in using very common instrument then on a less common one.
In 2007, LaGuardia added a zero and 11th period. These classes are usually lab or gym, although some students may have another class 11. It is not unusual to hear of a student waking up at 4:30 AM to catch the ferry from Staten Island into the city, to arrive on time for the 0 period class (which, as of 2008, starts a 7:27 AM).
LaGuardia High School has no specific feeder schools. Mark Twain I.S. 239 for the Gifted & Talented has been known to be a feeder school, but is not officially one.
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