SCHOOL PROFILE 2019-2020 Head of School: Jason Patera 1010 W. Chicago Ave. Chicago, IL 60642-5414 [email protected] P: 312.421.0202 College Counselor: Sarah Langford F: 312.421.3816 [email protected] chicagoacademyforthearts.org Assistant Principal: Chris Arnold CEEB/ACT Code: 140-627 [email protected]
ABOUT THE CHICAGO ACADEMY FOR THE ARTS Established in 1981, The Chicago Academy for the Arts is a nationally recognized, internationally influential independent high school acclaimed for its unique co-curricular program composed of rigorous college-preparatory academics and professional- level arts training. Designated a National School of Distinction by the John F. Kennedy Center, The Chicago Academy for the Arts provides a challenging and stimulating environment in which young scholar-artists master the skills necessary for academic success, critical thought, and creative expression.
MISSION FACULTY ACADEMIC CURRICULUM The Chicago Academy for the Arts The Academy’s faculty consists of 55 The Academy’s rigorous, college- transforms emerging artists through a members, including full-time, certified preparatory academic program is curriculum and culture which connect academic teachers and arts instructors, built upon core studies in English, intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, as well as part-time artist-teachers mathematics, science, social studies, and creativity to impart the skills to of local, national, and international and world languages. Honors courses lead and collaborate across diverse acclaim. The student-to-faculty ratio are offered in selected disciplines. AP communities. is 4:1. Fifty-three percent of Academy courses are offered during a student’s teachers hold graduate degrees. junior and senior years. STUDENT BODY Students are admitted to The Academy ACCREDITATION each year based on demonstrated The Academy is accredited by the ability in both academics and the arts. Independent Schools Association of the For the 2019-2020 school year, 50% Central States (ISACS) and is a member of applicants were accepted to The in good standing of the National Academy. Association of Independent Schools The 138 students of The Academy form (NAIS). The Academy is recognized by a diverse community: 70% Caucasian, the Illinois State Board of Education 13% African American/Black, 6% Latino/ (ISBE) and is a member of the Illinois Hispanic American, 2% Asian American, High School Association (ISHA) and the 8% Multiracial American, and 1% Arts School Network (ASN). International. Academy students live Ava Saunders, Musical Theatre ‘17 in Chicago, its suburbs, and beyond: 51% Chicago, 47% suburbs, 2% ARTS CURRICULUM international. Many students commute Each student is a member of one of over three hours each day to attend The Academy’s six arts departments: The Academy. Dance, Media Arts, Music, Musical Theatre, Theatre, or Visual Arts. Each Approximately 49% of students department provides core courses receive need-based tuition assistance that immerse the students in the each year. A total of $1.2 million was discipline of the respective department. awarded for the 2019-2020 school year. Faculty members assess students individually in each course each semester. In addition to their regular Ninety-six percent of the students of Sunday in the Park with George, 2018 the Class of 2019 were admitted to arts classwork, students participate universities, colleges, art institutes, in numerous productions throughout DAILY SCHEDULE or conservatories. The 113 students the school year. The Academy has The Academy’s school day begins at comprising the classes of 2017-2019 over 100 productions each year, 8:30 a.m. and consists of six 45-minute collectively earned over $25 million in including concerts, plays, musicals, academic periods followed by a three- college scholarships readings, screenings, and exhibitions. hour immersion in the student’s Additionally, The Academy’s urban respective arts discipline. The average academic class size is 15 location offers students unparalleled students. access to, and partnerships with, some While the standard school day officially of the world’s most renowned arts ends at 4:30 p.m., students are required organizations and professionals. to stay later on the majority of school days for rehearsals, performances, Seniors in each arts department also private lessons, or student-led projects. present major final projects (such The Academy’s extended school day as recitals, exhibits, and films) as a and the significant commutes of many graduation requirement. of our students limit their availability for extra-curricular activities. GRADING POLICY HONORS AND AP COURSES GRADING SCALE The Academy provides a cumulative The Academy offers eight honors-level GPA that includes both academic and courses and nine AP courses. These Grade Standard Honors AP arts courses as well as a cumulative courses are offered to students based A 4 4.5 5 GPA that includes academic courses upon teacher recommendation. Due to B 3 3.5 4 only. The Academy does not rank its AP course availability and scheduling C 2 2.5 3 students. conflicts, students are typically able D 1 1 1 to take a total of no more than five AP F 0 0 0 courses. Honors and AP courses are weighted in the GPA. COURSE OFFERINGS SUBJECT/REQUIREMENTS COURSES Honors and AP courses are highlighted in red. A one-semester course is equal to .5 credits. Course titles reflect changes made at the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year.
ENGLISH • African American Literature* • Introduction to Literary Analysis • Myth and Hero* • American Literature • Latin American Literature* • Native American Literature* 4 credits • Analysis and Composition • Literature and Composition • Postcolonial Literature* • AP English Literature & Composition • Literature and the Comedic Form* • Shakespeare as Literature and *One-semester course. • Chicago Literature* • Literature of World War I* Drama* Offered in alternating years. • Detective Fiction • Literature Through Film* • Women’s Literature* • Gothic Literature
MATHEMATICS • Algebra I • AP Statistics • Honors Algebra II • Algebra II • Discrete Mathematics • Honors Geometry 3 credits • AP Calculus AB • Geometry • Honors Precalculus *Not offered in 2019-2020 • AP Calculus BC • Honors Algebra I* • Precalculus
SCIENCE • Anatomy & Physiology • Biology • Physics • AP Computer Science Principles • Chemistry • Plagues, Pests, and Politics 3 credits • Astronomy • Health and Wellness • Scientific Discourse and Debate
SOCIAL STUDIES • AP Art History • Honors Philosophy* • Modern American History • AP European History • Honors World Religions Through Film 3 credits • Civics • Intro to Sociology and Pyschology • U.S. History *Not offered in 2019-2020 • Global Affairs • World History
WORLD LANGUAGES • AP French • French I-III • Honors Spanish IV 2 credits • AP Spanish • Honors French IV • Spanish I-III
ARTS ELECTIVES • Business & the Arts • Music Composition • Studio Art (Offered to students of • Digital Arts and Media • Rhetoric, Discourse, Speech, and • Urban Design all arts departments) • Introduction to Acting Debate
Each student is a member of one of the following arts departments and must complete the courses shown.
DANCE • Ballet A, B, & C • Men’s Class • Pas de Deux • Dance Composition • Modern Graham Technique A, B, & C • Pointe A & B • Jazz A, B, & C
MEDIA ARTS • Animation Studies • Expanded Narrative • Publications Lab • Animation Techniques • Fiction • Screenwriting • Audio Production • Film Aesthetics • Sequential Narrative • Cinematography • Introduction To Creative Writing • Studio • Creative Non-Fiction • Media Design • Video Production • Directing • Poetry • Workshop
MUSIC • Chamber Ensemble • Jazz Combo • Piano Lab • Classical Vocal Workshop • Jazz Vocal Workshop • Studio • Composition • Music History • Theory and Ear Training I, II, and • Contemporary Writing and Production Advanced
MUSICAL THEATRE • Advanced Acting • Introduction to Acting • Voice Repertoire and Music *Through Dance Dept. • Dance* • Musical Theatre Studio I and II Theory • Intermediate Acting • Private Voice Instruction
THEATRE • Acting for the Camera* • Directing • Playwriting* • Advanced Acting • Improvisation* • Scenic, Lighting, & Sound Design • Circus* • Intermediate Acting • Script Analysis *One-semester course • Combat for Stage and Screen* • Introduction to Acting • Stagecraft • Costume Concepts* • Makeup for Stage and Screen* • Stage Management • Voice and Movement
VISUAL ARTS • Color Theory • Drawing • Painting • Design • Four-Dimensional Studio • Printmaking *Also offered in Media • Interdisciplinary Art • Sculpture Arts Dept. • Digital Photography* ACT SCORES, 2017-2018 *2018-2019 ACT scores will be released toward the end of 2019. Section Academy Average National Average Academy % Higher English 27.4 20.2 36% Math 24.1 20.5 18% Reading 27.9 21.3 31% Science 24.0 20.7 16% Composite 25.9 20.8 25% ACT COLLEGE READINESS* SCORES, 2017-2018 Section % Academy Students % National Students Academy % Higher English Composition 95% 60% 58% College Algebra 73% 46% 59% College Social Science 85% 40% 113% College Biology 68% 36% 89% Graduation, 2016 Meeting all four 55% 27% 104% *The ACT’s “College Readiness” statistic predicts the likelihood of a student earning an ‘A’ or a ‘B’ in a particular college course.
COLLEGE ACCEPTANCES 2010-2019 AMDA College and Conservatory of the Dominican University of California University of Mary Washington Saint John’s University Performing Arts Drake University Maryland Institute College of Art Saint Mary’s College American Academy of Dramatic Arts Drew University Marymount Manhattan College Saint Xavier University The American Musical and Dramatic Drexel University Massachusetts College of Art and Design Sam Houston State University Academy College of DuPage University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth San Francisco Art Institute The American University of Paris Earlham College McGill University University of San Francisco Antioch College Eastman School of Music Mercyhurst University Santa Fe University of Art and Design Arizona State University Eckerd College Miami University, Oxford Sarah Lawrence College The University of Arizona Edinburgh College of Art University of Miami Savannah College of Art and Design Augustana College Elmhurst College University of Michigan School of the Art Institute of Chicago Baldwin Wallace University Elon University Middleburg College School of the Museum of Fine Arts Ball State University Emerson College Millikin University School of Visual Arts Bard College Emory University Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design Shenandoah University Barnard College University of Essex Minneapolis College of Art and Design Skidmore College Belmont University Eugene Lang College The New School for University of Minnesota University of South Carolina Beloit College Liberal Arts University of Missouri, Columbia University of South Florida, Tampa Bennington College University of Evansville University of Missouri, Kansas City University of Southern California Berklee College of Music Evergreen State University Montana State University, Bozeman Southern Illinois University, Carbondale Biola University Florida State University The University of Montana, Missoula Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville Boston Conservatory Fordham University Moody Bible Institute Southern Methodist University Boston University Friends University Muhlenberg College Spelman College Bowling Green State University George Mason University New England Conservatory of Music Springfield College Bradley University Goucher College The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Stanford University Brooks Institute of Photography Grand Valley State University Music Suffolk University Burlington College Green Mountain College The New School SUNY-Purchase College, State University Butler University Grinnell College New York University of New York California College of the Arts (Oakland) Guildford School of Acting University of North Carolina School of the Syracuse University California Institute of the Arts Guilford College Arts The Ohio State University California State University, Long Beach Hampshire College North Central College The Theatre School University of California, Berkeley University of Hartford North Park University Triton College University of California, Los Angeles Harry S. Truman Community College of University of North Texas Tulane University University of California, San Diego Chicago Northeastern Illinois University University of the Arts London CAP21 Performing Arts Conservatory Hawaii Pacific University University of Northern Colorado The University of the Arts Carnegie Mellon University University of Hawaii at Manoa Northern Illinois University Ursinus College Central Saint Martins College of Art & Hofstra University Northwestern University University of Utah Design Howard University Oberlin College and Conservatory Vassar College Centre College University of Illinois at Chicago University of Oklahoma Virginia Commonwealth University Champlain College University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Oklahoma City University Viterbo University Chapman University Illinois State University Ontario College of Art & Design Wagner College Chicago College of Performing Arts at Illinois Wesleyan University Otterbein University University of Washington Roosevelt University Indiana University at Bloomington Pace University, New York City Washington University, St. Louis University of Chicago The University of Iowa Pace University, Westchester Campus Wayne State Chicago State University Ithaca College Parsons The New School for Design Webster University University of Cincinnati College Johns Hopkins University Peabody Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Wesleyan University Conservatory of Music Conservatory of Music Pennsylvania State University, University Western Illinois University Cleveland Institute of Music The Juilliard School Park Western Michigan University Coe College Juniata College Pepperdine University University of Wisconsin, La Crosse College for Creative Studies Kansas City Art Institute Point Park University University of Wisconsin, Madison University of Colorado at Boulder University of Kansas Pomona College University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Colorado College University of Kentucky Pratt Institute The College of Wooster Colorado State University Kenyon College Prescott College Columbia College Chicago Knox College Princeton University Concordia University (Montreal, Quebec) Lake Forest College University of Redlands Concordia University (IL) Lawrence University Reed College The Conservatory of Music Lewis University Rhode Island School of Design The Cooper Union for the Advancement of The Liverpool Institute for the Performing Ripon College Science & Art Arts Rochester Institute of Technology Cornell College London Contemporary Dance School University of Rochester Cornish College of the Arts University of Louisiana, Lafayette Rockford University Dean College Loyola Marymount University Roehampton University (UK) University of Denver Loyola University Chicago Roosevelt University DePaul University Manhattan School of Music Rose Bruford College Dominican University Marquette University Rutgers University-New Brunswick 1010 W. Chicago Ave. Chicago, IL 60642-5414
P: 312.421.0202 F: 312.421.3816 chicagoacademyforthearts.org