Las Vegas Academy

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The Las Vegas Academy of International Studies, Performing and Visual Arts, commonly referred to as LVA, is a magnet high school located in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada.

Las Vegas Academy

Image:Lva1.jpg

Principal	Stephen Clark
Established	1992
School type	Magnet School
Location	Las Vegas, Nevada
Enrollment	1455
Campus	Las Vegas
School colors	Teal, Silver, and Black
Nicknames	LVA
Website	[1]

1 History
- 1.1 Las Vegas High School
- 1.2 Las Vegas Academy
2 Academics
3 Theatrical Venues
4 Majors
5 Awards and Recognition
6 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Las Vegas High School

The Las Vegas Academy's campus is located at the original site of Las Vegas High School, which was opened in 1930 and was the first high school in Las Vegas. Main, the original building, is still in use today. It (the school, not the Main Building) is also known to be haunted.

[edit] Las Vegas Academy

In 1992, the Clark County School District began to plan the magnet school for the arts, and on August 23, 1993, Las Vegas High School was reopened as the Las Vegas Academy by founding principal Bob Gerye. Starting with 735 students, the student body has more than doubled and continues to grow with each passing year. The Las Vegas Academy obtains much recognition for its music arts program, but community visibility comes from the more widely known vocal and dance departments.

[edit] Academics

Las Vegas Academy students use a block schedule for the 8-period class schedule, attending 4 classes a day, each of which is 86 minutes long. A student will attend each class every other day, except for their major, which is scheduled across two periods, making it the focus of the student's study. Classes begin promptly at 7 AM and continue until 2 PM. Additionally, there are several extracurricular activities on campus, including an intensive theatre and theatre technologies program, club activities, and many performances, art shows, and concerts throughout the school year.

Students are expected to maintain a 2.0 minimum GPA to stay enrolled in the school, and because of this academic requirement, LVA students often score very well on standardized tests, scoring in the 75th percentile on average. Also, over 88 percent of all graduating seniors continue their educations at 4-year universities.

[edit] Theatrical Venues

The Las Vegas Academy has two performing venues.

Performing Arts Center (Commonly called "PAC")

This is the older theater, built in the 50's and rumored to be haunted by the ghost of Mr. Petrie. Who exactly Mr. Petrie was is a mystery. It has nearly 1300 seats, and features art deco façade and old ceramic sculptures on the walls. This building is one of the oldest performing arts structures in Las Vegas. Recent renovations have made the building safe and user-friendly, and includes winch motor electrics, newly renovated stage floor, theatrical lighting, rigging and sound systems.

Las Vegas Academy Lowden Theatre for the Performing Arts

This venue began construction in 2004, and was completed along with the Visual Arts building in time for the beginning of the 2005-2006 school year. The theater is unique and designed specifically with the needs of Las Vegas Academy in mind. Amenities include a theatre technologies studio and computer lab. The stagehouse features a full fly system, extensive trap and link lift orchestra pit, and a fully-enclosed dark maple orchestra shell. There are two large dressing rooms and a green room that functions also as a communal makeup room. The soaring lobby espouses a modern art deco theme, which ties the old architecture from around the campus into the clean lines of modern utilitarianism.

[edit] Majors

The Las Vegas Academy boasts a selection of majors for which students audition and then focus on throughout their four years. The six major areas of study are:

Dance- introduces students to a wide range of dance experiences and activities that will enhance basic movement technique and creativity. Instruction is given in modern dance, ballet, jazz, and ethnic dance, as well as chorography, creative movement, dance history, and improvisation.

International Studies- provides students with an instructional program that is appropriate to the student’s potential and individual style of learning. Integrated areas of study include foreign language, geopolitical understanding, multicultural appreciation, and knowledge of world regions. The language programs incorporate total immersion in the student’s target language with cultural aspects of those linguistic regions.
1. French
2. Japanese
3. Spanish

4.German (has been cancelled)

Music- allows students to participate in comprehensive activities that include instruction in brass, guitar, percussion, piano, strings, vocal, woodwinds, basic musicianship, history, music technology, theory, and world music. Students have the opportunity to participate in bands, guitar ensembles, madrigals, Mariachi ensembles, mixed choirs, orchestras, jazz ensembles, piano ensembles, wind ensembles and small ensembles in both rehearsal and performance settings.
1. Choir
2. Band
3. Guitar
4. Mariachi
5. Orchestra
6. Piano
7. World Jazz Studies

Theatre- provides an overview of theater and gives participants the opportunity to perform in small scenes and major productions, learning to express themselves both through prose and poetry. Basic acting skills are developed through improvisation, movement, and exercises for the actors. Students learn about stage lighting, the application of makeup, and the influence of costuming techniques.

Technical Theatre- provides students with training in lighting, sets, sound and design for productions held in both large and small venues. Through instruction on CAD (Computer Aided Design) software, technical theatre majors develop and build computer skills necessary for the entertainment world.

Visual Arts- offers young artists personalized instruction and in-depth studio experiences in drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, computer graphics, textiles, sculpture, ceramics, aesthetics, art history, and videography.
1. Broadcast Journalism
2. Visual Design
3. Photography

[edit] Awards and Recognition

Las Vegas Academy has received many national, state, and local recognitions,including the Blue Ribbon School and New American High Schools Award. This year marks the seventh consecutive Grammy Award for the Las Vegas Academy's Music Department. Las Vegas Academy was also recognized by the International Network of Performing and Visual Arts schools as a STAR school.

Academy Theatre has performed shows such as: