The Union County Academy for Performing Arts is a full-time four-year public magnet high school located in Scotch Plains, in Union County, New Jersey, United States, on the Union County Vocational Technical Schools Campus. Its first year was the 2008-09 school year. While the school originally offered two majors; theatre and dance; a program in technical theatre will be offered in the 2015-16 school year. The school is part of the Union County Vocational Technical Schools (UCVTS), which serves students in all of Union County.
The students are on the Union County Vocational Technical Schools Campus for the first three years of high school, while their senior year is spent at Kean University. While attending Kean, their courses follow the program for the first year in the performing arts concentration.
As of the 2014-15 school year, the school had an enrollment of 184 students and 11.7 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student-teacher ratio of 15.7:1. There were 12 students (6.5% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 3 (1.6% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.
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Awards, recognition and honors
In 2016, the Academy for Performing Arts was one of ten schools in New Jersey, and one of two high school programs in the state, recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School by the United States Department of Education.
In its listing of "America's Best High Schools 2016", the school was ranked 203rd out of 500 best high schools in the country; it was ranked 32nd among all high schools in New Jersey.
In its 2013 report on "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast ranked the school 962nd in the nation among participating public high schools and 71st among schools in New Jersey.
Schooldigger.com ranked the school 20th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 6 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (97.8%) and language arts literacy (100.0%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).
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Admissions
Applicants to the high school proceed through the admission process as follows:
- Attendance at an information session
- Submission of an application to the Principal's office
- Academic examination of grades from 7th grade, the first marking period of 8th and NJASK scores
- Notification of English and math admission test
- English and math admission tests
- Notification of academic qualification and invitation to dance/theatre audition
- Notification of acceptance
The following criteria are considered for admission:
- Grade Point Average (7th and 8th grade)
- Standardized test scores (7th grade)
- Admission assessments
Academically qualified candidates will then come back to audition for their career path which can be either Dance or Theatre Arts. They will be judged by a panel with a background in that career.
Graduation requirements
In order to graduate from the Academy for Performing Arts, a student is required to have taken:
- Four years of Performing Arts
- Freshmen: Dance I or Theatre I
- Sophomore: Dance II or Theatre II
- Junior: Dance III or Theatre III
- Senior: Intro to Theatre and Acting I or Intro to Choreography Course and Technique Course at Kean University
- Four years of English
- Freshmen: English I - World Literature
- Sophomore: English II - Early American Literature
- Junior: English III - Modern American Literature
- Senior: College Composition ENG and Research in Technology at Kean University
- Four years of Mathematics. Mathematics courses depend on an individual's skill level, which is determined based on an initial assessment in the 8th grade year. Students are placed into one of the following classes each year:
- Algebra 1
- Combined Algebra (Algebra 1 & 2)
- Geometry/Trigonometry
- Math Analysis (Pre-Calculus)
- Algebra 2/Trigonometry
- AP Calculus AB
- AP Calculus BC
- Higher Level mathematics courses are offered at the Union County Magnet High School.
- Senior year will have a Math course at Kean University
- Four years of Science
- Freshmen: Biology I, Foundations of Science (1 Semester), Scientific Data Analysis (1 Semester)
- Sophomore: Chemistry I
- Junior: Physics I
- Senior: ASTR, ES, GEOL, or METR at Kean University
- Four Years of Fitness/Health
- Dance majors will fulfill Physical Education requirements through the Dance Program, allowing more instructional time in the major
- Three Years of Social Studies
- Freshmen: World History
- Sophomore: US History I
- Junior: US History II
- Three Years of a World Language.
- Spanish I - Spanish IV
- Hispanic Culture & Literature
- Linguistics
- One half year of Career Education
- This requirement is integrated into other courses and does not impact scheduling.
The building
The building opened in September 2010. The school features two dance studios, two theatre studios, a recording studio, a black box theatre, a technical theatre room, a make-up room, dressing rooms and a lighting booth.
Partnership with Kean University
In addition to attending APA the first three years of high school, students are sent to Kean University during their senior year and are eligible to receive one full year of college credits on a Kean University transcript. Due to the discrepancy between the required number of days of attendance for a high school senior versus the schedule of classes at Kean, students are expected to complete a senior project as compensation.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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