Few people can argue the importance and influence of an early education in the Arts. Environments that are geared towards very specific things hone skills razor sharp because they increasingly narrow the focus of a child’s mind and abilities. An education that gives great opportunities in the Arts allows children to create their own boundaries and un-focus their own abilities into areas, themes and abilities that they may not have even known were there. At its most simple, a box of crayons can give a child their own world to create and explore, with no answer right or wrong.
Almost every school has an arts program, however these programs are being stripped down more and more as funding gets tighter. Arts Programs across the nation are in need of support and encouragement right along with supplies that range from finger paints to massive kilns.
The Arts – Ask for More! Campaign is the result of a partnership between Americans for the Arts and the Ad Council and has resulted in a multiyear national public service advertisement campaign to promote the need for more arts education opportunities for children.
Studies have shown that involvement in the arts helps kids increase test scores and promotes academic achievement. Kids who are involved in the arts are
4 times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement
3 times more likely to be elected to class office within their schools
4 times more likely to participate in a math and science fair
3 times more likely to win an award for school attendance
The PSA campaign’s Brahms Breakfast, a 30 second spot, was featured on MTV’s 44 ½ foot screen in Times Square for the entire week of January 11th.
There is no question that the NYC Private School Admission process can be grueling for both parents and children. Finding the right private school match for your child’s educational and personal needs is the first challenge, and that does not even include admissions, interviews, testing and the general anxiety that comes with waiting, waiting to be accepted.
For some students, the admission process to NYC Schools has an added element of competition and skill that goes beyond the academic. For the thousands of students enrolled in Arts and Sports programs in NYC Schools, their academic and personal abilities are only part of their admissions. Their skill and natural talent in Arts and Sports is also judged and weighed in order to find the right school for them to develop their minds and bodies.
The high school admission process in New York City is notoriously dizzying, with each eighth grader asked to rank up to a dozen choices, and the most competitive schools requiring tests, essays or interviews. But for hundreds of students who sing, dance, act or play an instrument, trying out for the ninth grade is now an all-consuming routine.
A generation ago, there was just one high school for aspiring artists — Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts. Over the years, dozens of high schools have created programs focusing on the performing and visual arts as a way to attract motivated students. More than two dozen now require auditions.
For those who have worked their entire short but accomplished lives to develop a specific set of skills that goes beyond those tested on paper, auditioning and admissions are one and the same in a fight for the right spot at the right school. Many of NYC’s top schools offer advanced Dance and Arts training led by professionals dedicated to developing talent in their students.
Admissions officers in every school that requires auditions are real people who have a real understanding of just how much their choices weigh on young applicants.
“We see a combination of kids who heard that Alicia Keys went here and want to be like her and then we will see kids who live, eat, sleep and breathe performing,” said Chuck Vasallo, an assistant principal of Professional Performing Arts High School. “Every application represents a person with a dream, and it’s in our hands if they’re accepted. If not, your life might go in another direction. That’s something we take very seriously. It’s a little scary, even for us.”
Admission to any NYC school can be competitive, especially with the added factor of specialized programs.
Factors that contributed to the increase in tuition costs for Private Schools were driven, in part, by the increased demands of the parents for their children and the increased expectations of alumni and higher educational facilities.
As more money poured into the economy and wealth and privilege weren’t just accessible by the upper class, more [...]
Private Schools for the Arts in NYC are often institutions that hold semester classes separate from academic facilities. At the Harlem School of the Arts, core artistic skills are developed and honed in 14 week semesters for students who have gained admission to this not-for-profit arts intitution.
The Harlem School of the Arts, Inc. (HSA) is [...]
Arts programs in NYC Private Schools still suffer from the kind of cutbacks and budgetary problems that the public schools have. Arts centered schools are not as commonly discussed, but one, the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, is renewing its publicity with the opening of its new facilities.
Writer Chalres J. Gans reported on [...]
Over a decade ago my husband and I were listening to the admission director’s introductory remarks at a then very sought after nursery school. “You needn’t worry,” she told the group, “if your child isn’t invited to attend our school, it doesn’t mean that he or she won’t get into Harvard.” I was [...]
The Charleston Daily Mail carried the increasingly popular story of New York’s P.S. 22 school singers, who can count numerous Hollywood Celebrities and the Mayor amongst their many fans.
They’re a bunch of regular grade school kids, but their fans include Ashton Kutcher, Tori Amos and Perez Hilton – plus millions of YouTube [...]
photo credit: ORNI¡
Finding a New York Private School that counts the Arts as a priority on par with academic excellence isn’t always easy. The truth is that schools for the artistically gifted child are in seriously short supply all across the nation, however, that does not mean that they don‘t exist. For students [...]
photo credit: arquera
The NY Times recently reported on a national survey of public and private schools. The survey, entitled 2008 Arts Report Card, is intended to report the status of arts and musical education during the past year.
Music and art instruction in American eighth-grade classrooms has remained flat over the last decade, according [...]
We are excited to announce that Cyndie Bellen-Berthézène, Founder and Director of Hi Art! and The Time In Children’s Arts Initiative, will join us as a regular blog contributor in the area of arts.
Cyndie’s extensive resume in the arts includes over a decade of dance training with George Chaffee, Viola Farber, the Joffrey School [...]
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