Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (
Arts High or
LACHSA, icon) is a Visual and Performing Arts
high schoolHigh school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
located on the campus of
California State University, Los AngelesCalifornia State University, Los Angeles is a public comprehensive university, part of the California State University system...
in
Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
,
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Founded in 1984, the public, tuition-free school offers both college preparatory courses and conservatory style training. Though it shares facilities with the university, the two schools' activities are usually separate. It is operated by the Los Angeles County Office of Education. LACHSA maintains a unique affiliation with
International Polytechnic High SchoolInternational Polytechnic High School, commonly abbreviated merely as iPoly, is a public college preparatory high school located on the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona campus and operated by the Los Angeles County Office of Education in conjunction with the College of Education...
, which is also run by LACOE.
The school specializes in the training of music, theater, dance, visual arts, and film. It is one of two arts high schools in
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
that allows students from any district within Los Angeles County to attend, the other being
Charter High School of the ArtsCharter High School of the Arts Multimedia and Performing is a public high school that operates on the campus of the First Lutheran Church of Van Nuys. It is located at 6952 Van Nuys Boulevard, in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California. Though it shares the facilities with the Lutheran Church, the...
in Van Nuys.
Acceptance into the school is based on an audition process for the approximately 130 spots available for incoming students, about 90% of whom are freshman. In 2011 more than 1000 students auditioned, the highest number ever.
LACHSA has four departments, Dance, Music, Theater, and Visual Arts, with sub-departments that any student may participate in, such as musical theater and film. The Music Department has the most students, followed by the Theater Department, Visual Arts and Dance.
Academic recognition
- California Distinguished School for Academic Excellence
- Golden Bell Award
- Grammy Signature School
- Bravo Award for excellence in arts education
- One of the "Best High Schools" in Los Angeles by Los Angeles Magazine
- LACHSA was among the few public high schools in California to receive a distinguished GreatSchools Rating of 9 out of 10.
Notable alumni
- Ai
Ai , born November 2, 1981 as , is a Japanese R&B singer and rapper. She is currently under EMI Music Japan.-Early life:...
, singer
- Corbin Bleu
Corbin Bleu Reivers , known professionally as Corbin Bleu, is an American actor, model, dancer, producer, and singer-songwriter. He performed in the High School Musical film series, the Discovery Kids drama series Flight 29 Down, and the Disney Channel Original Movie Jump In!...
, actor
- Gerald Clayton
Gerald William Clayton is a jazz pianist and composer born in Utrecht, Netherlands, and raised in Southern California. He is the son of bassist/bandleader John Clayton and the nephew of multi-instrumentalist wind player Jeff Clayton.-Biography:...
, jazz pianist and composer
- Jenna Elfman
Jennifer Mary "Jenna" Elfman is an American television and film actress. She is known for her role as Dharma on the ABC sitcom Dharma & Greg and as Billie on the short-lived CBS sitcom Accidentally on Purpose....
, actor
- Drew Garrett
Drew Garrett is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Michael Corinthos III on General Hospital.-Biography:...
, actor
- Josh Groban
Joshua Winslow "Josh" Groban is an American singer-songwriter, musician, actor, and record producer. His four solo albums have been certified at least multi-platinum, and in 2007, he was charted as the number-one best selling artist in the United States with over 21 million records in that country...
, singer
- Josefina Lopez
Josefina Lopez is a Chicana playwright, perhaps best known as the author of the play Real Women Have Curves.-Early life:...
, playwright
- Gretchen Parlato
Gretchen Parlato is an American jazz singer. She has performed and recorded with musicians such as Lionel Loueke, Wayne Shorter and Kenny Barron....
, jazz vocalist and composer
- Kehinde Wiley
Kehinde Wiley is a New York-based portrait painter, who is known for his highly naturalistic paintings of contemporary urban African, African-American, Afro-Brazilian, Indian and Ethiopian-Jewish men in heroic poses.-Early life:...
, painter
External links