academics and preprofessional programs

[Guest Medora]

What are academics like at the Professional Children's School? Are they demanding enough that children who decide to go to college instead of pursuing a dance career can still be accepted to competitive colleges? Do students who train in the Houston Ballet's preprofessional program take academic classes at their regular high schools? Also, are there places to live for students who want to participate in the full term preprofessional porgrams of the Washington Ballet School and the Houston Ballet School? These are just some random questions that have always held my curiousity. Thanks!

[Mel Johnson]

I cannot speak directly of the Washington School of Ballet, so I'll leave that to Ms. Leigh, but the academic school situation there is not directly attached to the ballet school. Release Time exists for students attending local schools to come to ballet class, but this is not unusual in many sorts of different programs, not only ballet.

 

Professional Children's School in NYC has, in recent years, attracted the attentions of top colleges for recruiting freshmen, and is very competitive with many of the best private schools in the country with regard to Merit Scholarships and other quality-based examinations, let alone the SATs.

 

Of Houston's program, I know so little as to best leave it to those with direct experience to comment and describe.

[Victoria Leigh]

Washington Ballet does not have an academic program attached to the school, as Mr. Johnson said. The students who come to study in the Release Time Program who are from out of town must have their own housing and school. We have students who commute from up to about 50 miles away, on a daily basis.

 

Houston Ballet has a few apartments for out of town Level 8 students, but they do not have an academic program attached to the ballet school. Students in that level who are from out of town are either post-graduates or home schooled.

[Guest Medora]

Oh well. I have heard so many good things from my ance teacher about Washington Ballet School, but I think a four hour commute each way is out of the question, especially since my studio is only 5 minutes from me house. I do have an aunt and an uncle who live in Fairfax, but I could never impose on them that way and my parents wouldn't let me. It looks like I'm staying home. I just home I dance enough hours every week. I have three ballet classes, two 1 1/2 hours, one 1 hour, and three pointe claases, all 1 hour each a week, plus two hours of jazz class a week ad rehearsals for my amatuer company from October through March. Its all my studiop offers as it is very small and only has one teacher for my level of ballet, and there are NO other good school sin the area. Maybe if I'm ever in Washington I can just stop by.

[Victoria Leigh]

Well, there is always the Summer Intensive, Medora