Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts
Encyclopedia
Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts 6–12 (CAPA) is a magnet school
located in the Cultural District
of Downtown Pittsburgh
, Pennsylvania
. CAPA is one of four 6th to 12th grade schools in the Pittsburgh Public Schools
. It is the result of a merger between CAPA High School and Rogers CAPA Middle School.
CAPA offers students six art majors: visual arts
, literary arts
, theater
, instrumental music
, vocal music, and dance
. The theater major includes traditional theater, musical theater
, technical theater
, and costume design
. Arts classes are taught by adjunct faculty who are working professionals in their respective fields.
Admission is by portfolio
or audition. It also offers a complete range of academic studies including Pittsburgh Scholars Program (PSP) and Centers for Advanced Study (CAS), along with activities like the National Honor Society
, Tri-M Music Honor Society
, National Art Honor Society
, yearbook
, newspaper
, student council
, Amnesty International
, Model United Nations
, the American Mathematics Competitions
and North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad
, and ski club
.
CAPA opened in September 1979 with just 35 students and it was housed in Baxter Elementary School in the Homewood
neighborhood. The school moved into its current space at Ninth Street and Fort Duquesne
Boulevard at the beginning of the 2003–2004 school year.
The 11-story, 175000 square feet (16,258 m²) building is a world-class facility that includes a 400-seat auditorium
, a black box theater
, an art gallery
, media arts center, television studio
, fitness center, computer lab
s, and special rehearsal spaces for all the departments. This new location allows students to study their crafts in the hub of Pittsburgh's cultural center and to easily collaborate with working artists from across the city, region, state, and country. Pittsburgh CAPA has just become one of four 6–12 schools in Pittsburgh, collaborating with Rogers CAPA 6–8.
and two Pittsburgh School District schools achieved inclusion in the ranking. Also in 2009, students from the school played for First Lady Michelle Obama and the wives of other leaders attending the G-20 summit
.
, art history, and fiber arts. Student work is regularly displayed around the school as well as on the Astrovision (Jumbo-Tron) which can be seen outside the building and in the lunch hall. Notable graduate of Capa's Art Department, Local Artist and Gadabout Max Buriak.
The theatre department provides a 4 year structured course in various forms of Musical and straight theatre. Every year the musical theatre students perform in 2 recitals and the All School Musical along with many other opportunities through the year.
. They have girls softball
and boys Baseball
. The girls soccer team was an undefeated section champion in 2004. Their main rivalry is against Pittsburgh Frick 6–8 Middle School
. The CAPA 6-8 sports teams mascot is the unicorn
. Although there have been several ideas relating to a mascot that incorporated the ideas of both the middle and high school mascots, both groups wanted their original mascots. After several weeks of brainstorming new mascot ideas, and picking a few from the finalized list, the students voted on three different mascots; CAPA Unicorns, CAPA Stars, or the CAPA Phoenix. There was no contest, and the winner was the CAPA Unicorns
Magnet school
In education in the United States, 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 as school zones that feed into certain schools.There are magnet schools at the...
located in the Cultural District
Cultural District, Pittsburgh
The Cultural District is a fourteen-square block area in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA bordered by the Allegheny River on the north, Tenth Street on the east, Stanwix Street on the west, and Liberty Avenue on the south....
of Downtown Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. CAPA is one of four 6th to 12th grade schools in the Pittsburgh Public Schools
Pittsburgh Public Schools
Pittsburgh Public Schools is the public school district in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA and adjacent Mount Oliver.The combined land area of these municipalities is with a population of 342,503 according to the 2000 census. In August 2005, the superintendent became Mark Roosevelt. His tenure ends...
. It is the result of a merger between CAPA High School and Rogers CAPA Middle School.
CAPA offers students six art majors: visual arts
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
, literary arts
Writing
Writing is the representation of language in a textual medium through the use of a set of signs or symbols . It is distinguished from illustration, such as cave drawing and painting, and non-symbolic preservation of language via non-textual media, such as magnetic tape audio.Writing most likely...
, theater
Acting
Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play....
, instrumental music
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
, vocal music, and dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
. The theater major includes traditional theater, musical theater
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
, technical theater
Stagecraft
Stagecraft is a generic term referring to the technical aspects of theatrical, film, and video production. It includes, but is not limited to, constructing and rigging scenery, hanging and focusing of lighting, design and procurement of costumes, makeup, procurement of props, stage management, and...
, and costume design
Costume design
Costume design is the fabrication of apparel for the overall appearance of a character or performer. This usually involves researching, designing and building the actual items from conception. Costumes may be for a theater or cinema performance but may not be limited to such...
. Arts classes are taught by adjunct faculty who are working professionals in their respective fields.
Admission is by portfolio
Career portfolio
Career portfolios are used to plan, organize and document education, work samples and skills. People use career portfolios to apply to jobs, apply to college or training programs, get a higher salary, show transferable skills, and to track personal development. They are more in-depth than a resume,...
or audition. It also offers a complete range of academic studies including Pittsburgh Scholars Program (PSP) and Centers for Advanced Study (CAS), along with activities like the National Honor Society
National Honor Society
The National Honor Society is a recognition program for high school students in grades 10-12 in the United States and in several other countries...
, Tri-M Music Honor Society
Tri-M
Tri-M Music Honor Society, formerly known as Modern Music Masters, is a high school and middle school music honor society. Each school has its own chapter, which is run by the students but supervised by an advisor or sponsor, usually a school teacher...
, National Art Honor Society
National Art Honor Society
The National Art Honor Society was established in 1978 in the United States by the National Art Education Association for high school students grades 10-12, for "the purpose of inspiring and recognizing those students who have shown an outstanding ability in art" from the National Art Honor Society...
, yearbook
Yearbook
A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a book to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school or a book published annually. Virtually all American, Australian and Canadian high schools, most colleges and many elementary and middle schools publish yearbooks...
, newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
, student council
Student council
Student council is a curricular or extra-curricular activity for students within elementary and secondary schools around the world. Present in most public and private K-12 school systems across the United States, Canada and Australia these bodies are alternatively entitled student council, student...
, Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, Model United Nations
Model United Nations
Model United Nations is an academic simulation of the United Nations that aims to educate participants about current events, topics in international relations, diplomacy and the United Nations agenda....
, the American Mathematics Competitions
American Mathematics Competitions
The American Mathematics Competitions are the first of a series of competitions in high school mathematics that determine the United States team for the International Mathematical Olympiad . This team, consisting of six high school students, competes in the IMO and has traditionally performed well...
and North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad
North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad
The North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad is a linguistics competition for high school students in the United States and Canada that has been held since 2007. Around 1000 students participate annually. Since 2008 the contest has consisted of two rounds, the second being administered...
, and ski club
Skiing
Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
.
CAPA opened in September 1979 with just 35 students and it was housed in Baxter Elementary School in the Homewood
Homewood (Pittsburgh)
Homewood is a predominantly African American neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, officially divided into three neighborhoods: Homewood North, Homewood South and Homewood West....
neighborhood. The school moved into its current space at Ninth Street and Fort Duquesne
Fort Duquesne
Fort Duquesne was a fort established by the French in 1754, at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers in what is now downtown Pittsburgh in the state of Pennsylvania....
Boulevard at the beginning of the 2003–2004 school year.
The 11-story, 175000 square feet (16,258 m²) building is a world-class facility that includes a 400-seat auditorium
Auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances at venues such as theatres. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens.- Etymology :...
, a black box theater
Black box theater
The black box theater is a relatively recent innovation, consisting of a simple, somewhat unadorned performance space, usually a large square room with black walls and a flat floor.-History:...
, an art gallery
Art gallery
An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...
, media arts center, television studio
Television studio
A television studio is an installation in which a video productions take place, either for the recording of live television to video tape, or for the acquisition of raw footage for post-production. The design of a studio is similar to, and derived from, movie studios, with a few amendments for the...
, fitness center, computer lab
Computer lab
A computer lab, also known as a computer suite or computer cluster is typically a room which contains many networked computers for public use...
s, and special rehearsal spaces for all the departments. This new location allows students to study their crafts in the hub of Pittsburgh's cultural center and to easily collaborate with working artists from across the city, region, state, and country. Pittsburgh CAPA has just become one of four 6–12 schools in Pittsburgh, collaborating with Rogers CAPA 6–8.
Academic achievement
In 2009, U.S. News and World Report ranked 21,000 public high schools, in the United States, based on three factors. First, the schools were analyzed for the number of students who achieved above the state average on the reading and math tests in 2008. Then they considered how the economically disadvantaged students performed against the state average. Finally, they considered the participation rate and the performance of students in college readiness by examining Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate test data. Seventy Pennsylvania high schools achieved ranking bronze, silver or gold rating. Fifty three Pennsylvania high schools achieved bronze. Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts High School achieved Bronze ranking. Eight high schools in Allegheny CountyAllegheny County, Pennsylvania
Allegheny County is a county in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,223,348; making it the second most populous county in Pennsylvania, following Philadelphia County. The county seat is Pittsburgh...
and two Pittsburgh School District schools achieved inclusion in the ranking. Also in 2009, students from the school played for First Lady Michelle Obama and the wives of other leaders attending the G-20 summit
2009 G-20 Pittsburgh summit
The 2009 G-20 Pittsburgh Summit was the third meeting of the G-20 heads of state in discussion of financial markets and the world economy.The G-20 is the premier forum for discussing, planning and monitoring international economiccooperation....
.
Enrollment
- African-American: 270 (31.36%)
- American Indian: 0 (0.00%)
- Asian: 27 (3.14%)
- Hispanic: 13 (1.51%)
- Multi-Racial: 52 (6.04%)
- White: 499 (57.96%)
- Male Students: 275 (31.94%)
- Female Students: 586 (68.06%)
Literary arts
Mission Statement: The literary arts program at CAPA is a seven year intensive course of study in creative writing—one of only a dozen nationwide. Students participate in many activities including the national Poetry Out Loud competition, and the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.Visual arts
Students in the Visual Arts Department learn the fundamentals of painting, drawing, sculpting, ceramics, photography, printmaking, digital mediaDigital art
Digital art is a general term for a range of artistic works and practices that use digital technology as an essential part of the creative and/or presentation process...
, art history, and fiber arts. Student work is regularly displayed around the school as well as on the Astrovision (Jumbo-Tron) which can be seen outside the building and in the lunch hall. Notable graduate of Capa's Art Department, Local Artist and Gadabout Max Buriak.
Dance
Mission Statement: Emphasis is placed on the theory and practice of refining and enhancing dance technique, understanding and applying corrections and stimulating creativity within each student.Theatre
Straight Theatre/Musical Theatre/Costume/Technical TheatreThe theatre department provides a 4 year structured course in various forms of Musical and straight theatre. Every year the musical theatre students perform in 2 recitals and the All School Musical along with many other opportunities through the year.
Instrumental music
Classes available to instrumental music majors include orchestra, wind ensemble, string orchestra, chamber music ensembles, various jazz bands, music/jazz theory, music history, piano lab. Each student receives a weekly private lesson with a faculty member specializing on his/her instrument.Vocal Music
The Voice Department offers students unique and rewarding educational experiences through its sequential four-year curriculum, through collaborative with professional music organizations, and through a variety of performance opportunities and Master Classes. Students in grades 9-12 receive a weekly private voice lesson. Students will perform in Concert Choir, Gospel Choir, Jazz Choir, and Chamber Ensemble. Students are also required to participate in the Opera Workshop class and perform in the yearly Opera. Other classes include: music theory, piano lab, music history, solfeggio, eurhythmics, Studio Class, and the creative music technology class. Each Friday, students perform in a recital for their peers studying vocal music. They showcase various songs from all different styles, from world language to musical theater to Jazz, that they work on in their Private lessons with the staff.Athletics
Although the high school has no official sports the 6-8 students do have sports teams. They have a boys and girls soccer, and basketballBasketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
. They have girls softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
and boys Baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
. The girls soccer team was an undefeated section champion in 2004. Their main rivalry is against Pittsburgh Frick 6–8 Middle School
Pittsburgh Frick 6–8 Middle School
The Pittsburgh Frick 6–8 Middle School was a public school magnet school in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.-History:In 1983 it became a middle school housed at Dilworth School in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of East Liberty. It moved to its site in the Oakland neighborhood in 1986, which...
. The CAPA 6-8 sports teams mascot is the unicorn
Unicorn
The unicorn is a legendary animal from European folklore that resembles a white horse with a large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead, and sometimes a goat's beard...
. Although there have been several ideas relating to a mascot that incorporated the ideas of both the middle and high school mascots, both groups wanted their original mascots. After several weeks of brainstorming new mascot ideas, and picking a few from the finalized list, the students voted on three different mascots; CAPA Unicorns, CAPA Stars, or the CAPA Phoenix. There was no contest, and the winner was the CAPA Unicorns