Tuacahn High School for the Arts was the first public

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

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 ...

in the state of

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, United States. Tuacahn High School for the Arts is now permanently closed. It was located in Ivins, just outside

St. George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

. The school offers a full college preparatory

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...

while focusing in-depth on the various areas of the performing arts. Students attending the school choose a studio with which to align their studies: Performance Studio, Music Studio, Media Arts Studio, and Visual Arts Studio. Tuacahn High School students produced numerous music and dance concerts each year as well as plays and musicals in the Orval and Ruth Hafen Theatre (380 seats). Because Tuacahn High School was directly connected to the

Tuacahn Center for the Arts The Tuacahn Center for the Arts is an arts organization located at the mouth of the Padre Canyon, adjacent to Snow Canyon State Park, in Ivins, Utah. The facility was completed in 1995 and includes a 1,920-seat outdoor amphitheater, a 328-seat i ...

, students often performed its spring musical in the 2,020-seat outdoor amphitheatre.

History

Tuacahn High School for the Arts was founded as Tuacahn High School for the Performing Arts in 1999 as Utah's first charter high school. While first created as a music and dance conservatory, in association with Tuacahn Center for the Arts, Kevin Smith worked to create a high school for performing arts. In 2019 it was announced that the school would change its name, dropping "performing", to reflect expanded offerings of visual arts, technical theatre, film, and audio production. THSA closed its doors permanently on May 30, 2021, and transferred the charter to Utah Arts Academy, which will be located in St. George, Utah.

Academics

Class offerings include four possible years of mathematics credits and an honors alternative; four years of English credits and corresponding honors courses; a three 1/2 credit hour history curriculum; five possible science credits; and a variety of technology, health, and social science courses to accompany the arts. Tuacahn is mid-to-high level in comparison academically to other schools of the same size, both charter and public, but above state average in ELA (English Language Arts). The school offers AP courses in Literature & Composition, Statistics, Music Theory and Studio Art, as well as a full ACT prep curriculum to all students grades 9-11. In 2007, Tuacahn was selected as Innovative Charter School of the Year. In 2010, it was selected as Outstanding Charter High School.

References

External links

Tuacahn High School

Dixie State University Box Office
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuacahn High School For The Performing Arts (Utah) Charter schools in Utah Educational institutions established in 1999 Public high schools in Utah Schools in Washington County, Utah 1999 establishments in Utah