The San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts, known as SDSCPA, is an audition-only public arts magnet school in southeastern San Diego, California, US. The San Diego SCPA is a non-tuition, public, dedicated magnet school in the San Diego Unified School District serving families throughout San Diego County. The San Diego SCPA provides pre-professional training in the arts alongside a college preparatory curriculum. All students audition and complete a required series of specialized arts training in Theater, Music,

Dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

, Visual and Cinematic Arts, or Creative Writing. Upon graduation, most SDSCPA students continue to universities or conservatories for further study in the arts and academics. Recent acceptances include the Juilliard School, Cornish,

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

, Curtis,

New England Conservatory The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on Hu ...

, Oberlin Conservatory,

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in mu ...

, Boston Conservatory, Peabody Institute, and CalArts.

Enrollment

Middle school

Middle school applicants must complete the San Diego Unified School District Open Enrollment application and then contact artistic director, Richard Trujillo, to set up an audition. Auditions usually take place in the Fall. Acceptance is via audition only.

High school

All students must first complete the San Diego Unified School District Open Enrollment Application. Prospective high school students must audition for a specific program in one of five majors: Creative Writing, Dance, Dramatic Arts, Music, and Visual and Media Arts. Students may audition and be accepted into several programs, but must choose which one they will pursue while at SDSCPA. Each program has its own audition panel.

Productions

Mainstages

Each spring the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts releases their upcoming performance season. Shows are typically staged in one of two main locations - the Florence Johnson Grand Theater or the Ole Kittleson Little Theater.

Arts

Music

Students can choose from four main forms of music: Band, Jazz, Orchestra, and Voice. 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 Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...

and Las Vegas, or as far as Boston and Hawaii. The most notable tour was in 2016 to New York City, featuring the school's Jazz Band at the Jazz at Lincoln Center Competition.

Dance

Several dance classes are available. These classes, ranging from beginning to advanced levels, are not limited to only one or two types of dance. Classes include Theater Dance, Ballet, Modern, and jazz tap. A professional strand dance class is two periods long. These are meant for more serious dancers who want to get the best of their training.

Visual and Cinematic Arts

Students in the Visual and Cinematic Arts programs take courses in photography,

drawing Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, ...

and painting, video production, and yearbook. In 2015, the SDSCPA opened a new multimillion dollar film studio, launching the Cinematic Arts program.

Theatre

Students majoring in Theatre complete courses in Acting, Musical Theatre, or Technical Theatre.

Creative Writing

Students majoring in Creative Writing take courses in Creative Writing and Journalism. Students may also elect to take courses in Broadcast Journalism.

Notable students

* Andra Day, Golden Globe Winner and singer * Hans Fjellestad, filmmaker and musician * Jane Granby, artist * Christian Hoff, 2006 Tony Award winner * Ananda Lewis, television personality *

James Maslow James David Maslow (born July 16, 1990) is an American actor, singer and dancer. He played the role of James Diamond on Nickelodeon's ''Big Time Rush'', had roles in '' Getaway'' and ''The Frozen Ground'', and is a member of the boyband Big Time ...

, actor * Sara Ramirez, Tony Award-winning actress * Giovonnie Samuels, actress * Brian Justin Crum, singer *

Salem Mitchell Salem Mitchell (born 1998) is an American model. She is known for her numerous facial freckles. Mitchell was discovered through Instagram and is currently signed to LA Ford Models and New York Model Management. Early life and education Mitchell w ...

, model * Lou Romano, animator and voice actor * Mallori Johnson, actress * Charl Brown, Broadway Actor, Tony Award Nominee * Jeremy McQueen, dancer * Jeffrey Gerodias, dancer * Kimberly King , television personality * Jeffrey Gerodias, dancer * Brad Bradley, Broadway Actor * Shondra Profit, Broadway Actor

References

External links

Official SCPA website
{{DEFAULTSORT:San Diego School Of Creative And Performing Arts Magnet schools in California Public middle schools in California Schools of the performing arts in the United States High schools in San Diego Public high schools in California Educational institutions established in 1978 1978 establishments in California