Alexander W. Dreyfoos, Jr. School of the Arts (DSOA) is a prestigious public arts magnet high school located in West Palm Beach, Florida. The school draws talented students from across Palm Beach County into one of its five art departments: Communications, Dance, Music, Theater, and Visual Art. Students are said to 'major' in their art area, completing the normal public school curriculum of math, science, English, history/social science, foreign language, health, and gym. In addition, students must take at least two or three art area classes per year.
Alexander W. Dreyfoos Jr. School of the Arts
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| Public (magnet) secondary
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| West Palm Beach, United States
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Students audition for placement in the school throughout February and March. The audition process is coordinated by each of the individual departments, after which the school administration makes an overall assement of a prospective student's academic and behavioral record. Auditions rigorously test the student's artistic aptitude on a college level. Dreyfoos accepts a limited number of students in each art area. Students are encouraged to apply for placement in 9th and tenth grades; enrollment is generally more difficult, as competition can be high. Acceptance, rejection, and waitlist letters are then mailed to applicants in April.
Prospective applicants and their parents should contact the Palm Beach County School District [link].
Curriculum
Students in their first year at DSOA are given a fairly rounded course selection in their art area. Visual Arts majors, for example, take a year long drawing class as well as a semester of sculpture, and a semester of 2-D design. A few students are able to take photography. In subsequent years, students are allowed, and often encouraged to specialize in an area of the department; Communications majors may work in journalism, Theater majors may focus primarily on technical theater, Visual majors may concentrate on sculpture. The one exception is music, in which a student is given intensive training in their instrument of expertise (or voice).
The school is adjacent to the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts [link], and the outdoor mall Cityplace. Located across Tamarind Avenue is the Tri-Railtrain station, which makes commuting for the students in the southern portion of the county fairly easy.
History
The school was previously named the Palm Beach County School of the Arts from its opening in August of 1990 until the opening of the new campus for the 1997-'98 school year. The original campus was the old North Shore High School campus in Mangonia, a town north of West Palm Beach. That campus is now the home of the Bak Middle School of the Arts, which recently received a generous donation from the Bak family and underwent major renovations.
Funding
Under the direction of School Board superintendent Arthur C. Johnson, specialty programs in Palm Beach County schools, including magnet schools and extracurricular programs, have been experiencing budget cuts. DSOA, which has a large yearly budget for purchasing art supplies and hiring experienced faculty, has been deeply effected by Johnson's fiscal policy. The School has survived the last several years through the generous donations of local philanthropists and cafeful financial management by the School of the Arts Foundation. In May 2006, Johnson was offered, and accepted, a significant raise to retain his position as Palm Beach County Superintendent of Schools.
