Los Angeles County High School for the Arts

Los Angeles County High School for the Arts
Name	Los Angeles County High School for the Arts
Established	1985
Type	Public magnet high school
Grades	9–12
District	Los Angeles County Office of Education
Enrollment	~650
City	Los Angeles
State	California
Country	United States

Los Angeles County High School for the Arts is a public arts magnet school located in Los Angeles, California, operating under the Los Angeles County Office of Education and co-located with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art campus in the Miracle Mile. The school provides conservatory-style training in visual, performing, and cinematic arts while students also pursue California state academic requirements and prepares many graduates for conservatories such as Juilliard, Manhattan School of Music, New York University Tisch School of the Arts, and California Institute of the Arts. Its programmatic model draws comparisons to institutions like LaGuardia High School, Berklee College of Music preparatory programs, Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, and Interlochen Arts Academy.

History

Founded in 1985 during a period of municipal arts expansion influenced by figures associated with the National Endowment for the Arts, the school began as an initiative of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and arts advocates connected to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Judy Collins, and the Getty Trust. Early collaborations involved institutions such as the University of Southern California, California State University, Los Angeles, UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, and the Los Angeles Master Chorale to develop curricula and audition standards. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s the school expanded partnerships with organizations including the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles Opera, Center Theatre Group, and the Los Angeles Dance Project, while alumni began to appear in programs at Broadway, Kennedy Center, Sundance Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, and South by Southwest.

Campus and Facilities

The campus is situated in the Miracle Mile cultural corridor near the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and is proximate to the Petersen Automotive Museum, La Brea Tar Pits, and the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Facilities include recital halls influenced by acoustical designs used at Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl, dance studios modeled on spaces at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Martha Graham Center, acting studios with links to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art tradition, recording studios comparable to those at Capitol Records and Ocean Way, and a black-box theater aligned with Center Theatre Group practices. Visual arts spaces support printmaking, painting, and digital media with equipment standards similar to those at California Institute of the Arts, Rhode Island School of Design, and School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Admissions and Academics

Admission is competitive and audition-based, mirroring processes at Juilliard Pre-College, Manhattan School of Music Pre-College, and LaGuardia High School, requiring applicants to prepare repertoire or portfolios evaluated by panels that include faculty with backgrounds at New York University, Yale School of Drama, Royal College of Music, and Curtis Institute of Music. Academic coursework follows California Department of Education guidelines and offers advanced placement and college-preparatory sequences used by schools feeding students into USC Thornton School of Music, Berklee College of Music, Columbia University, and Stanford University. Counseling and college advising connect students to conservatory auditions and auditions for institutions such as Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and Boston Conservatory.

Conservatory Programs

Conservatory tracks include Music, Theatre, Dance, Visual Arts, Film and Television, Technical Theatre, and Voice. Music conservatory training references methodologies from Juilliard, Berklee College of Music, and Manhattan School of Music; theatre instruction draws on practices at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Yale School of Drama, and Stella Adler Studio of Acting; dance curriculum integrates techniques derived from Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Martha Graham Center, and Bolshoi Ballet traditions. Film and television courses are informed by faculty with experience at American Film Institute, UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, and USC School of Cinematic Arts, while technical theatre aligns with standards used at Royal Shakespeare Company and Center Theatre Group.

Student Life and Extracurriculars

Students participate in ensembles, productions, exhibitions, and festivals that mirror professional circuits such as Broadway, Off-Broadway, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Sundance Film Festival, and Toronto International Film Festival. Extracurricular organizations collaborate with arts bodies including Los Angeles Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, Youth Orchestra Los Angeles, Los Angeles Children's Chorus, and community arts initiatives tied to Getty Foundation grants and National Endowment for the Arts programs. Student governance, peer mentorship, and volunteer activities connect learners with civic cultural institutions such as the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Hammer Museum, The Music Center, and Skirball Cultural Center.

Notable Alumni

Alumni have achieved prominence across stage, screen, music, and visual arts, joining professional communities at Broadway, Hollywood, West End, and international festivals. Graduates have collaborated with entities including Netflix, HBO, Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, Sony Classical, Deutsche Grammophon, and have pursued advanced study at Juilliard, CalArts, NYU Tisch, USC School of Cinematic Arts, and Yale School of Drama.

Community Engagement and Partnerships

The school maintains partnerships with cultural institutions such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles Opera, Center Theatre Group, Getty Center, and Skirball Cultural Center to provide student internships, performance opportunities, and professional mentorship. Collaborative programs with municipal arts offices, philanthropic foundations like the Annenberg Foundation and Weinstein Family Foundation, and national organizations such as the National Endowment for the Arts support outreach to Los Angeles communities including Echo Park, Boyle Heights, South Los Angeles, and Hollywood.

Category:Public high schools in Los Angeles County, California