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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]From the outside CAP looks like neither fish nor fowl: not a theatre program or a journalism program, and certainly not really an academic humanities program.  My DC is very into drama but CAP doesn't look like it will really feed that - my impression is that theatre in CAP is really there to cultivate public-presentation skills.  Which is fine, but not as much of an asset for a kid who might major in theatre/drama in college.

CAP veterans, can you help me understand the program better?[/quote]

Parent of a theater-focused CAP graduate here. I think that in the absence of a true performing arts magnet in MCPS, a lot of those kids do congregate in CAP but it is as you say not a performing arts program. It is an integrated humanities program. The history/English/media teachers work together to guide big projects and deepen understanding of the curriculum by exploring it from different perspectives. Because so much of the learning is project based, kids can leverage their particular interests/talents. So a theater kid can write and perform a monologue for, say, National History Day whereas a more fine arts focused or documentary film making kid might tackle the same subject through a different medium. As the PHS parent said, the interdisciplinary approach is the draw.

Second semester of 10th grade is very focused on making a short film, and the theater and crew kids tend to really shine in that project with elaborate sets, scripts, and props. Junior year is more focused on a long form research paper, which means that all of the research and writing skills from the journalism classes get channeled into a more traditionally academic direction.

Just a side note that the theater program at Blair is also very strong, for kids who want to do HS theater. They are a little under the radar compared to some of the other schools, partially because they double cast and therefore don't compete in the various review/competitions around town, but the performances quite good and (more importantly) the culture of the program is positive and produces plenty of young people who apply to performing arts/theater programs. [/quote]

This is extremely helpful and I really appreciate it - thank you!  We are DCC but not zoned for either Einstein (where DC wants to go) or Blair, so a CAP application might be one of the only ways for DC to get to one of those two schools.  (Defaulting into our home school isn't the best choice for DC"s interests.)[/quote]

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