Fairfax HS theatre program

[Anonymous]

Has anyone had a child who has bussed to Fairfax during the school day for their theatre program? What was their experience? I’m clueless but I am not sure this makes sense with the commuting time.

[Anonymous]

For the academy class? I've had a couple students do it. They loved it, the shows are phenomenal, it's high quality instruction. It does take two class periods, but if they can make 4th period the travel period they will try to.

[Anonymous]

Do the students only attend for that program and the rest of their academics are at the base school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do the students only attend for that program and the rest of their academics are at the base school?

Yes, that is how academy works.

[Anonymous]

I thought students provided their own transaction to academy classes

[Anonymous]

Yes it’s been great. The buses are like clockwork and the teacher is fantastic. Highly recommend

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought students provided their own transaction to academy classes

They can. But there are buses and many use them

[Anonymous]

They have a great program!

[Anonymous]

My student is at a nearby school and took the shuttle bus the first year she did the Academy class. The second year she took it she drove her own car since she had a parking pass. There are specific parking spots for Academy kids at Fairfax that are free if you have a base school pass but you do need to still get the hang tag.

If you are at a nearby school (Oakton, Madison, maybe Woodson) you can take a normal load at your base school but you might be a few minutes late back to your next class. No biggie. I know kids from Herndon HS that ended up taking some online classes bc in order to transport to FFx for the 2 period Acting class (junior year) they had to use 4 periods to account for transport time (not sure if bus or personal vehicles).

It's too bad you didn't ask this question last week bc I should have advertised their musical on this board, which closed today with their final show. It was phenomenal. Everyone in Academy (4 different classes) can audition but there are cuts for sure. It think there was around 35 kids in the musical--not sure on that exactly.

I will say, do not expect the "easy A" that the base school theater classes tend to give. There is real work--my kid spends more time on this class than anything else. The freshman and sophpomore classes are a single period but the junior and senior classes are each 2 period classes. However if you are a junior trying for the first time you can get placed in the 1 period class.

Go to the open house on Tuesday (rescheduled from last week).

[Anonymous]

PP here. You should follow them on their Instagram at mtasacademy for pics and updates.

[Anonymous]

I have a student in the MTAS program. There are 4 levels - all of which require an audition to be admitted:
Musical Theatre Fundamentals - 1 credit (all grades can take but primarily geared toward 9th graders) meets in the middle of the day on alternating days
Musical Theatre Workshop - 1 credit (all grades can take but geared toward 10th graders) meets in the middle of the day on alternating days
Advanced Musical Theatre Workshop - 2 credits (juniors and seniors only) meets at the end of the day every day
Pre-Professional Musical Theatre - 2 credits (seniors only) meets at the beginning of the day every day.

Shuttle transportation is provided for all classes EXCEPT Pre-Professional (assuming the base school meets a minimum number of students attending any class at Fairfax Academy during that class time). Students in Pre-Professional must provide their own transportation.

It is one of the best training programs in the DMV for teenagers who have an advanced interest and skill level in musical theatre. The curriculum goes deeper into all 3 aspects of MT (singing, acting, dance) than any base school curriculum and provides a ton of masterclasses, workshops and discussions with local, regional and national industry experts and teaching artists as well as multiple field trips and performance opportunities throughout the year.

They put on a large-scale musical every year in January/February (which as someone mentioned above just closed yesterday) which is designed to fit inbetween the base schools' Fall and Spring productions so students can participate in all.

The Pre-Professional class has a significant focus on helping students prepare for the college BFA audition process although every year there are multiple students in the class who are not pursuing MT in college.

[Anonymous]

There is an Open House February 10 at 6:30 for interested families as well as during the month of February, prospective students are invited to visit any class to shadow for a day.