Choice Programs

Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts would like to welcome you to our Choice art program offerings. Our school provides a uniquely challenging and nurturing environment focused on individual growth, opportunity, and diversity.

Explore our programs below. For more information, please contact Alyssa Arterburn, our Magnet Coordinator.

Band

Band Programs offer study in sight-reading skills, improvisational skills, and performance techniques while encompassing various levels of music theory. More than twenty different student ensembles, ranging from classical to jazz, Marching and Drum line, rehearse and perform throughout the year.  They perform at halftime shows during football games, pep rallies, various local parades, campus events and Band Competitions. Band students focus on the development of experiences in responding to music and connecting music to cultural influences are also a part of the overall course. 

Communication Arts

The Communication Arts program is the first of its kind to exist anywhere in the United States. It offers a multi-strand curriculum that promotes proficiency in speech and debate, print and broadcast journalism, yearbook, creative writing, graphic design, digital video/ film production, and television production. The program prepares students to be leaders in the various fields of Communications through participation in performances, publications and productions. All students applying to this program must meet the following eligibility criteria: 2.0 GPA and an qualifying audition score. This program is listed as "Communications" on the Choice Application.

Dance

The Dance program offers rigorous instruction for the serious dance student. Dance enables students to develop an appreciation for the art of Dance through a holistic approach. Through instruction in diverse dance styles, students will not only build physical strength, flexibility, and technical skill, but also cultivate essential life skills. They develop a strong sense of self-respect, learn the value of peer collaboration, and improve their balance, coordination, and control of movement. The most important outcome is a deep and lasting appreciation for artistic growth and expression. 

Digital Arts & Photography

The Digital Arts & Photography program is a fine arts major with a core focus on photography and digital art. Students will learn digital creative skills including digital illustration, graphic design, animation, video, and motion graphics.  The photography component of our department teaches students analog photography techniques, including how to use a manual 35mm film camera, black and white film developing, print and alternative processes. Students in this program work with both still and moving images, along with traditional and digital media in order to create a diverse portfolio with a strong personal voice.

Keyboard/Piano

Internationally recognized, the Keyboard program offers extensive study in the Music industry. Courses encompass three levels of music theory including Music Theory, Advanced Music Placement and Music Composition. Student ensembles rehearse and perform throughout the year

Strings

Internationally recognized, the Strings program offers extensive study for students interested in the Philharmonic, String Orchestra, and Instrumental Ensemble.  Courses encompass three levels of music theory including Music Theory, Advanced Music Placement and Music Composition. Student ensembles rehearse and perform throughout the year.

Theatre - Acting

The Acting track of the Theatre program challenges young artists to develop a passion and understanding of the art form. Students will focus on process-centered work gaining a profound knowledge of who they are in the world both as artists and humans. Through a curriculum involving movement work, script analysis, scene study, Shakespeare, devised theater and directing, students will train to become competitive theater practitioners and storytellers.

Theatre - Musical

The Musical track of the Theatre program explores the practical skills needed for the artist seeking to study musical theatre on the collegiate level. Students study acting, singing, and dancing in tandem as the primary method of telling stories. Students will explore dance technique, musical theatre history, music theory & musicianship principles, present selections from their repertoire books, workshop material, work collaboratively as an ensemble, study current trends in the profession and, eventually, film college pre-screen auditions.

Theatre - Technical

The Technical track of the Theatre program provides students with a comprehensive understanding of all production elements of a show and offers hands-on training in all aspects of technical theatre construction and design of scenery, lighting, sound, and costume. Students can study stage management, arts administration, and prepare for leadership positions on crews and production teams. 

Visual Arts

The Visual Arts program encourages its students to explore personal visions through a variety of mediums and materials. Visual Arts students are offered coursework that includes art history, photography, painting, digital photography, three dimensional art and printmaking. Academy students will be required to keep sketchbooks while developing portfolios which will serve to document their artistic growth and showcase skills that take them to the next stages of their education or into their professional careers. The central philosophy of the Visual Arts Academy is that to truly learn a discipline, one must learn by doing and not just study it in a classroom. Our visual arts program combines inclass lectures to familiarize students with the fundamentals of their discipline, instructorsupervised workshops to ensure students are comfortable with their equipment and independent projects that allow students to bring their ideas to life. 

Vocal

Students in the Vocal program develop a proper vocal technique and an understanding of vocal mechanism. Students will also learn musical notation, sight singing and appreciation of many genres of music through the study and performance of vocal literature. Students will also learn musical theory, arrangement, vocal and performance techniques, musical notation, sight–reading, structure & discipline. They will experience feelings of accomplishment and success like no other through creative expression, self-respect, peer collaboration, coordination, and most of all an appreciation for others' talent.