Douglas Anderson School of The Arts - Education

Education

The school focuses on providing a standard high-school curriculum along with creative education. Currently, the school offers instrumental music (including piano and guitar), vocal music, creative writing, performance and technical theatre, dance, visual arts and cinematic arts.

Students are accepted to the school based on auditions offered in the spring (and often the summer) of each school year. Vocal music, performance theatre, and dance students also have the opportunity to attend a second audition for entrance into the musical theatre program. In addition to excelling in their chosen area of artistic study, students are expected to maintain an average (>2.0) GPA. or face probation and/or eventual expulsion. Also, students can be put on probation for missing over 8 instructional units. Each department features an end of year "jury" wherein a student's contributions to their respective department are assessed and critiqued.

"Extravaganza" is an annual event at the school to showcase student's work.

Creative writing

The department was opened in 1990 and in 2006 became one of the last to receive its own building. The Creative Writing department produces a literary magazine, Elan, and the school newspaper The Improviser. For a short while the journalism classes also produced a magazine, titled Segue.

Cinematic arts

The formerly named "Film/TV department", established in 1997 under the instruction of Lorry Romano, is the newest department in the school. The department originally began as an extension of the theatre department. In 2001, it became its own department with only 10 students. Students are educated in all aspects of film making such as writing, directing, editing, and cinematography. Each grade level focuses on different specialized projects that require a myriad of skills. The department supports a small number of extracurricular major film projects that act as the flagship pieces in the bi-annual film showcases. Department films have gone on to gain admittance and in some cases awards in national film festivals and the local Jacksonville Film Festival. In 2003, the department was given its own studio featuring a classroom and editing bay. During the time, students would film, produce and edit the "Brain Brawl" competition for WJCT.

Dance

The Dance department offers many different classes to about 150 students. The two performing groups, Tap Ensemble and Dance Theatre, require an audition to join. Dance majors study everyday with a rotating schedule of modern and ballet/pointe classes. The Dance department also offers electives such as Dance Production I and II, Jazz, Dance Career Prep, Research, American Musical Theatre, Dance Aesthetics, Variations, and Ethnic Dance. Also, all dancers are required to complete a Choreography credit during either their Junior or Senior year.

Instrumental and vocal music

Musical instruction is divided into four departments: piano, guitar, vocal and instrumental—which includes both band and orchestral groups. As a whole, the music classes were named a Gold School and ranked number 2 in the nation by the Grammy Foundation in 2008, and number 1 in 2010 and 2012.

The various groups perform throughout Florida and the nation on a regular basis. In 2006, the DASOTA Jazz Ensemble I, under the direction of Ace Martin, won first place in the Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition and Festival in New York.

The vocal department's top group, Chorale Women, performed at the 2011 ACDA (American Choral Director's Association); a National Music Conference in Chicago. They are under the direction of Jeffrey Clayton and currently hold the title of the best high school women's chorus in the nation.

Other honors include the invitation extended to the Symphonic Band to play at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Festival in 1999 under the direction of Tom Haller. The Wind Symphony, under the direction of Shawn Barat, performed at the 2008 MENC National Biennial In-Service Conference in Milwaukee, the 2009 FMEA In-Service Clinic-Conference in Tampa, and the 2011 Music For All National Concert Band Festival in Indianapolis. Most recently, the Wind Symphony performed at the 2011 Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, IL.

The jazz band was also featured in the award-winning documentary Chops. The film followed the jazz band on their journey to the Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition and Festival starting with their first experience with jazz in middle school, at LaVilla School Of The Arts, and going through winning the competition.

Performance and technical theatre

The Performance and technical theatre department has existed since the school's inception. With a state-of-the-art theatre, as well as a modern 'black box' theatre, students have all the trappings of a professional theatre. The department averages four shows a year, including a children's show, a musical or Shakespearean play, and a contemporary piece. All theatre students are given a background of general theatrical knowledge, taking classes such as stagecraft, acting, plays and playwrights and theatre history, in addition to more specialized courses like Directing and Voice and Dialect. The tech department allows students to assist in design, technical direction, and creation of costumes, props, and sets.

Musical Theatre—a more recently added major opportunity—allows students to enter as either a theatre, vocal, or dance student, and integrate the three beginning in the second year. The performing theatre majors and tech majors are expected to prepare juries at the end of each school year that show their growth over the course of the year.

In 2010, the theatre department began to produce a production of Moisés Kaufman's The Laramie Project. The production gained national attention as the infamous religious institution Westboro Baptist Church protested the event. A counter-protest was staged by current students, faculty, and staff along with city officials and alumni of the school. The production went as planned in April 2010.

Visual arts

In this arts area, many students take part in drawing, painting, sculpting, photography, printmaking, and art history. Gallery openings occur throughout the year to showcase the students' talent. There is an annual Senior Show marking the last gallery opening for the outgoing seniors, and in which they are the only contributors, subtracting the underclass work. The program boasts a fully operational and state-of-the-art photo lab, yearly student built installations around campus, and full facilities for printmaking, sculpture and drawing/painting classes.

In 2002, the visual arts curriculum was challenged by one of its former students. During a lesson in sculpture history, a video was shown featuring nude depictions of Indigenous peoples of the Americas. The student's parents pressed the school board to fire the teacher and remove the section from the course. The case was eventually thrown out and the student chose to voluntarily leave the school.