Denver School of the Arts (DSA) is a comprehensive, public, arts

magnet school In the U.S. education system, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. "Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities (usually school boards) as school ...

, serving grades 6–12. Located at 7111 Montview Boulevard in the Park Hill neighborhood of

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, the school is operated by the Denver Public School District. DSA currently offers 11 art majors – bands, creative writing, dance & movement, guitar, orchestra, piano, stagecraft & design, theatre, video cinema arts, visual arts, and vocal music.

History

Denver School of the Arts began as a concurrent program at Manual High School in the late 1980s, but was eventually transformed into a fully staffed school on the campus of the former Byers Middle School at 150 South Pearl Street – the former site of Byers Mansion. During the 2003–2004 school year, DSA moved to its current location at 7111 E. Montview Boulevard, the former site of the W. Dale and W. Ida Houston Fine Arts Center built by the

Colorado Women's College Colorado Women's College was a division of the University of Denver in Denver, Colorado, focusing on evening, weekend, and online courses for women. It originally opened in 1909 as a private women's college and merged with the University of Denver i ...

and later used by the

Lamont School of Music Lamont School of Music is the school of arts of the University of Denver, based in city of Denver, United States. In 1941, the school merged with the University of Denver. History Despite its separation from Denver University's main campus for m ...

Students

DSA serves both

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

and

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

students. Graduating class sizes are small, with approximately 140 students comprising the Class of 2018.

Audition process

DSA requires an

audition An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performer. It typically involves the performer displaying their talent through a previously memorized and rehearsed solo piece or by performing a work or piece giv ...

for prospective students competing to join one of its eleven offered majors.

Extracurricular activities

Majors

DSA offers majors in Guitar, Vocal Music, Piano, Creative Writing, Video Cinema Arts, Stagecraft and Design, Dance, Visual Arts, Band, Orchestra, and Theatre. All majors are chosen at 6th grade except for Stagecraft and Design, which is only offered for 9th grade and above. Students may switch their major by going through that major's audition process, but a spot in that major is not guaranteed.

Sports

Denver School of the Arts does not offer its own extracurricular sports programs, nor does it offer in-school

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

. DSA students are encouraged to participate in sports programs at other Denver high schools and middle schools. Many students at DSA play sports at the sister school of East High School or at their "home" high school.

Notable alumni

Peter Atencio Peter Atencio (born March 15, 1983) is an American television and film director best known for directing the sketch comedy series ''Key & Peele'', as well as the duo's feature film '' Keanu'', released in 2016. Career Atencio directed all epi ...

- director, ''

Key & Peele ''Key & Peele'' (abbreviated to ''K&P'') is an American sketch comedy television series created by Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele for Comedy Central. Both Key and Peele previously worked on ''Mad TV.'' Each episode of the show consists m ...

'',

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...

; director, Keanu; winner,

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

* Gabriel Ebert - stage actor, ''

Matilda the Musical ''Roald Dahl's Matilda'', simply known as ''Matilda'' or ''Matilda the Musical'', is a stage musical with music and lyrics by Tim Minchin and a book by Dennis Kelly, based on the 1988 novel ''Matilda'' by Roald Dahl. The musical's narrative c ...

''; screen actor, ''

Ricki and the Flash ''Ricki and the Flash'' is a 2015 American musical comedy-drama film directed by Jonathan Demme and written by Diablo Cody, about a woman who leaves her family to become a rock star and later gets a chance to make amends. The film stars Meryl Str ...

Mr. Mercedes ''Mr. Mercedes'' is a novel by American writer Stephen King. He calls it his first hard-boiled detective book. It was published on June 3, 2014. It is the first volume in a trilogy, followed in 2015 by ''Finders Keepers (King novel), Finders Keep ...

; winner,

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

for Best Featured Actor in a Musical'' *

Mondo Guerra Armando Thomas "Mondo" Guerra (born June 6, 1978) is an American fashion designer who finished as runner-up on Season 8 of '' Project Runway'', and later won the series' first season of '' Project Runway All Stars''. After coming out as HIV posit ...

- fashion designer, winner, '' Project Runway: All Stars'' (2012) *

Justine Lupe Justine Lupe-Schomp is an American actress. She is known for her roles on ''Mr. Mercedes'', ''Succession'', '' Cristela'', and '' The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel''. Early life Lupe grew up in Denver, Colorado. She is a 2007 graduate of Denver School o ...

- screen actor, ''

'', ''

Cristela ''Cristela'' was an American multi-camera sitcom television series that aired from October 10, 2014, through March 6, 2015, on ABC. The series was created by stand-up comedian Cristela Alonzo, who also starred in and wrote for the series and ser ...

Harry's Law ''Harry's Law'' is an American legal comedy-drama television series created by David E. Kelley, which ran for two seasons on NBC from January 17, 2011, to May 27, 2012. On May 11, 2012, NBC announced that ''Harry's Law'' would not be renewed for ...

'' * Jovan Bridges (“Yvie Oddly”) - performer, winner, ''

RuPaul’s Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the fi ...

'' (2019)

References

External links

* {{authority control Public middle schools in Colorado Schools in Denver High schools in Denver Educational institutions established in 1991 Public high schools in Colorado Magnet schools in Colorado 1991 establishments in Colorado