San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts

Infobox School
name = San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts


phone = [phone]
type = Public
head = Mitzi Yates Lizárraga
street = 2425 Dusk Drive
city = San Diego
state = California
country = United States
district = San Diego Unified School District
lower_grade_limit = 6
upper_grade_limit = 12
publication = The Production, The K-Arts Connection
website = http://www.scpa.sandi.net

The San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts, known as SCPA, is a public arts magnet school in southeastern San Diego, California, USA. Most of the students in grades 6-12 are bussed to the school from throughout the San Diego Unified School District. They take specialized classes in theater, music, dance, visual arts, video production, and stagecraft along with regular academic subjects.

Admission

Middle School

Students entering grades 6-8 are admitted through audition process. Students must audition into a concentration of a specific art form including: art studio, dance, music, theater, drama, photography, and video production. Usually, students with siblings already attending SCPA or students with seminar certification are more likely to be admitted.

High School

Students entering high school either as freshmen or as transfers must audition in order to be admitted. Their audition must be in an artistic area of their interest, such as dance, singing, visual art, drama, or musical theatre

Productions

Mainstages

SCPA puts on two large musicals ("mainstages") each year in the Florence Johnson Grand Theatre. In the year 2005-2006, these shows were "Les Miserables" and "A Chorus Line". Other mainstages have been "Grease", "West Side Story", "Footloose," "Gypsy", "Bye Bye Birdie", and "Into the Woods". For the 2006-2007 school year, the mainstages are "South Pacific" and "Purlie". Many smaller productions take place in the Little Theatre, including performances by the advanced acting and musical theatre classes. 2006-2007 shows in the Little Theatre include "The Odd Couple", "Smokey Joe's Cafe: Songs of Leiber and Stoller", and "The Crucible". And for the 2007-2008 school year, for the two main stages are the musicals "Urinetown" and "Thoroughly Modern Millie". In 2007-2008, the P&P play was "To Kill A Mocking Bird" and for Advance Musical Theatre, "Honk!". Along with these performances, there was also going to be a theatre showcase.

Dance Productions

In addition to the mainstages, SCPA's dance classes perform in dance concerts that also take place in the Florence Johnson Grand Theatre. Notable dance productions include the senior dance production, the winter and spring dance productions, and the SCPA Choreotech Show.

Winter and Spring Dance Concerts consists of choreographies done by dance teachers that include beginning to ensemble level dancing.

Senior Dance Production is when seniors in the highest level of dance, or ensemble, work together to put on a production. These selective group of seniors each choreograph a dance with the style of their choice. The production is usually held in early February.

Music Productions

Musically, the intermediate and advanced music classes (including choir and instrumental) put on concerts in both the winter and spring, aptly named the Winter Music Concert and the Spring Music Concert.

Arts

Music

Musically, students can choose from two main forms of music: Choir and Band/Orchestra. The advanced musical groups go on annual tours to compete against other schools from around the nation. These tours can be to places as close as Anaheim and Las Vegas, and can be as far as Boston and Hawaii. The most notable tour was in 2008 to San Francisco--featuring the schools' Chamber Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, and Jazz Band.

Dance

Several dance classes are available for students. These classes, ranging from beginning to advanced levels, aren't limited to only one or two types of dance. Some of the dance classes offered are Theater Dance, Ballet, Irish Dance, Modern Dance, and Dances of Mexico and Spain.

A professional strand dance class is two-periods long and are for more serious dancers who want to get the best of their training.

Mixed Media Arts

For students who flourish in visual arts, other options are available. Students can choose to delve into photography, drawing and painting, video production,Martial Arts and yearbook.

The video production class puts together a monthly broadcast called the K-Arts Connection. K-Arts is usually broadcast throughout the day during a specific period. It informs the student body and faculty on what has happened and what is going to happen in each art category offered at SCPA. K-Arts also has student and staff spotlights as well as upcoming events.

Incidents

hooting Threat

On May 3rd, 2007, a shooting threat against the school was discovered. The message, written on the walls of a restroom, read "School shooting tomorrow 5/4 at 6:45". The same week, similar threats were found at Poway High School, Otay Ranch High School, and Correia Middle School, in which a female 8th grader from Correia Middle School was detained. [ [http://www.10news.com/news/13254593/detail.html "Shooting Threats Discovered At Local Schools"] ] [ [http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/13254562/detail.html "Graffiti Threats Found At 2 More Schools"] ] [ [http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20070504-1107-bn04threat.html "More threatening graffiti, this time at Otay Ranch school "] ]

The school day on May 4th continued without incident at SCPA, despite considerably lowered attendance from students. Gunshots were fired, however, at an elementary school on May 4th. Shots were fired at Olive Elementary School in Vista, prompting the lockdown of several schools in San Diego. No students were injured, and all were accounted for. The suspect is said to have been a caucasian male with long hair. [ [http://www.10news.com/news/13260006/detail.html "Breaking News: Report Of Shots Fired At Elementary School "] ] [ [http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/13259989/detail.html?dl=mainclick "http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/13259989/detail.html?dl=mainclick "] ]

Taggings

The school has recorded many taggings through out its' years. Yet the 2006-2007 school year had the most; over 2 cases. All the taggers were found and the school pressed charges. All the students involved were expelled.

Remarkable Students

Notable students include alumni Tony Award-winning actress Sara Ramirez, 2006 Tony Award winner Christian Hoff, former Alvin Ailey principal dancer Jeffrey Gerodias, Giovonnie Samuels, television personality Ananda Lewis, film actress Julia D'Orazio, and artist Jane Granby.

Notable Faculty

Director Mitzi Yates Lizárraga was the principal and CEO of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, an arts-focused school operated in partnership with The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The George Washington University, and the District of Columbia Public Schools in Washington D.C. In 2003, Mrs. Lizárraga was a Fulbright Memorial Fund Scholar to Japan, and from 1991 through 2000, she served on the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Commission on the Arts. Mrs. Lizárraga holds on M.A. in Liberal Studies from Wesleyan University and a B.F.A. in dance from the New York University Tisch School of the Arts. Mrs. Lizárraga is also a former dancer of Bertram Ross Dance Company.

Faculty Cynthia Diana Morales holds a B.F.A. in dance from The Juilliard School and an M.A. in dance education from the University of California Los Angeles. While at The Juilliard School she performed in works by dance masters José Limón, "There is a Time", "The Winged" and Anna Sokolow "The Lovers". Mrs. Morales has had an extensive career as a performer dancing for Ballet Hispanico, working with such notables as Talley Beatty and Ballet Metropolitano de Caracas, Venezuela as a principal dancer.

ee also

*Primary and secondary schools in San Diego, California

References

External links

* [http://www.scpa.sandi.net Official SCPA Website]

* [http://www.asbsdscpa.com Official SCPA ASB Website]