Features

When thinking about specialized high schools, certain names may pop into our heads: Stuyvesant, Bronx Science and Brooklyn Tech, traditional math and science schools. However, on the other side of the spectrum, there’s one specialized high school that focuses on something other than brains—artistic talent.

Whether they major in art, dance, vocal and instrumental music, theater production or drama, the students of Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts are unique in terms of their focus on their talent aside from their academics. LaGuardia has fostered the talent of many current celebrities including actors Adrien Brody, Jennifer Aniston, Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino, jazz musician Bill Charlap, and director Lou Berger.

Like those of Stuyvesant, LaGuardia applicants are required to take an entrance examination. However instead of being tested on reading comprehension and standardized math, potential LaGuardia students audition to demonstrate their talent in their selected major. Their academic and behavioral capacities are measured by the scores received on their seventh grade standardized examinations. Most LaGuardia students achieve at least a grade of three, five being the highest score.

With a student body of 2,400 students and about 600 students per grade, LaGuardia is slightly smaller than Stuyvesant, which has slightly over 3,100 students. LaGuardia has a remarkably high number of female students with 70 percent of LaGuardia’s student body being female compared to 55 percent at Stuyvesant.

Because of the added attention to liberal arts, LaGuardia’s school day is longer in order to fulfill its academic quota for students to graduate. Whereas Stuyvesant High School has 10 periods, LaGuardia has a 12-period school day. The periods are numbered from zero to 11—with the first period beginning as early as 7:30 a.m. However, most students have periods one to 10.

LaGuardia emphasizes the arts instead of math, science or technology. Consequently, there are no required courses in computer science or technical drawing. However, LaGuardia students have studio classes that concentrate on their selected major and prepare them for a career in the arts. Students are enrolled in a minimum of three studio classes. “It’s good to know the basics before you go on to find what you really love or what area of art you’re really strong in,” said Edona Pula, who is a current junior and art major at LaGuardia. Though freshmen and sophomores have a core curriculum, juniors and seniors are allowed to take electives.

Even though studio classes are meant to nurture students’ talents, they can be a strain on students in advanced academic classes who aren’t just trying to get on Broadway, but also into a top college. With rehearsals, performances and art shows lasting until late hours, having homework and studying to do on top of that can prove tiresome. “This is the unique challenge of our school’s double mission and perhaps its curse, as well. Somehow, things work and I’m always impressed by the mettle of the students here,” LaGuardia Advanced Placement Spanish teacher Angelo Valerio said.

Though LaGuardia and Stuyvesant have many differences in terms of students’ academic life, both schools place importance on security. At LaGuardia, not only are students required to swipe into the school using their student ID cards every morning, but they must also swipe into the cafeteria. LaGuardia students can’t leave the school during free periods and aren’t allowed to go out for lunch.

Security at LaGuardia “used to be more lenient in the past,” senior and vocal major Ryan Solange said. In recent years, there have been a number of altercations between students from LaGuardia and students from the high school across the street, Martin Luther King Jr. High School. To prevent physical confrontations and ensure peace between the schools, police officers can sometimes be found patrolling the general vicinity outside LaGuardia.

If SING! is such a popular event at Stuyvesant, then it comes as no surprise that LaGuardia has its own annual theater production. Rising Stars is a completely student-run production that takes place every year, but is not a competition like SING!. Though the show is mainly geared towards drama majors, there are so many different parts of the show that accommodate other majors as well.

At first glance, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School may be considered less rigorous than the more academically focused specialized high schools. However, the breadth of LaGuardia’s talent and artistic skills should not be overlooked. “We get inspiration from each other. We might not be like every other school, but we have something that connects us all to one another,” Pula said. “We know how important the arts are, so we become emotionally and physically invested in them. We all understand each other, and that we all love what we do.”