The 2007-2008 CASA school year has begun, Welcome back!
Founded in 2001 through a partnership between the Captial Area Intermediate Unit and Open Stage of Harrisburg, CASA offers intensive instruction in visual art, dance, music, theatre, and film and video to qualified high school students in the CAIU. Located in several sites in the heart of downtown Harrisburg, the school uses the city as its "classroom", affording its students access to the numerous resources located downtown, and utilizing a yearly theme based on the urban environment. The school's Vision Statement reads:
"The Capital Area School for the Arts will be the significant and innovative provider of multidisciplinary arts education to school entities throughout the area. It will attract the most talented and motivated students and be a model for arts education."
War and Peace Intro: Whitaker Center, 2004
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Now entering its seventh successful year, the Capital Area School for the Arts (CASA) is a high school program for highly motivated students in the Central Pennsylvania area who wish to expand their education in the arts in innovative ways. Offering accelerated experiences in five major art areas: visual art, dance, film and video, music, and theatre, the school is located in several sites in downtown Harrisburg. Some highlights of the CASA program:
• It brings together talented students in 9th through 12th grades from school districts in Central Pennsylvania
• It places students in classrooms in downtown sites in and near local arts organizations
• It holds classes from 7:45 to 9:45 a.m. and 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. to accommodate classes and activities in home schools
• It employs certified PA teachers and professional guest artists as instructors in advanced courses in the arts, including master classes, lectures, and symposia
• Its morning classes are small, so that students receive individualized instruction in studio classes
• Its afternoon curriculum is based on a yearly unified theme: students work with similar content, but with different media
• It offers opportunities for independent project work, portfolio development, and community service
• Its admission process is competitive, and is based on academic and artistic performance standards
• It encourages internships with local arts organizations
• It provides career counseling, including college and university admission and audition/interviews for arts conservatories
• It offers professional development opportunities for teachers
• It attracts adult volunteers in professional careers to serve as mentors and consultants to its student body
• It provides preparation and coaching for special programs like the Central PA Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, the PA Governor’s School for the Arts, and the National Arts Recognition and Talent Search (ARTS)
• It uses the city of Harrisburg and the Central PA region as “classrooms,” providing access to the area’s artistic, educational, governmental, and corporate resources as tools for learning
Morning students spend approximately ten hours a week exploring their chosen art form in a studio setting. Emphasis is placed on skill development and growth of knowledge and appreciation of the individual art discipline. Each school year ends with an exhibit and performance for the public in a fully-equipped theatre.
The afternoon curriculum at the Capital Area School for the Arts is unique. Each year is based on a theme, sometimes relating to the city of Harrisburg (i.e., its river, architecture, government, and history) or a challenging statement or issue. Students in all art areas research the theme, interpret it, collaborate with peers in other areas, and create art connected to it. The school year ends with a celebration of the theme in downtown Harrisburg featuring an exhibit and a performance.
In addition to receiving quality instruction in skill development and technique, all students applying to the program will have the opportunity to connect with the arts in an extraordinary way, and make discoveries that will stay with them for a lifetime.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Anne Alsedek, Program Director
Capital Area School for the Arts
717-214-0593 ph
717-703-2053 ph
717-214-0594 fx
aalsedek@yahoo.com
Design by Andrew Shiraki.
Updated by the students of C.A.S.A.