LACHSA ELECTIVE COURSE OFFERINGS
Freshman Seminar – Grade 9
Length of course: 1 year The Freshman Seminar focuses on: Learning to Learn Strategies, Skills and Habits to promote success! Nine different student seminars have been planned that teach, reinforce and prepare students for LACHSA. These seminars are scheduled per week throughout the school year. Beginning Film – Grade 9-‐12 Length of course: 1 year Students will learn how to write, prep, shoot and edit a production. The course will focus on the basics of pre production and post-‐production to include but not be limited to basics in screenwriting, visual storytelling (storyboards), lighting, audio, shot composition, sound design, and digital editing. Students will also be introduced to the history of cinema, including foreign and silent films.
Intermediate Film – Grade 10-‐12 Length of course: 1 year Prerequisite: Successful completion of Intro to Film or Beginning Film Intermediate Film combines theory and actual practice, with a stronger emphasis on theory. In this class, film making is approached as the art of visual storytelling. You will learn the step-‐by-‐step procedures for taking the written words from the script to the visual images on the screen. This course is structured to teach you the basic fundamentals and technical skills of single camera digital cinema production. This will include script analysis and shooting breakdown, the master shot cinema language, directing actors, camera technique, the use of light, color and sound and the technique putting it all together in the editing room.
Advanced Film – Grade 11-‐12 Length of course: 1 year Prerequisite: Successful completion of Intermediate Film
Advanced film is designed as a production lab. Students work to produce many individual and group projects. Students will receive on-‐the-‐job training (OJT) throughout the duration of their narrative projects, such as the “silent film” and the “short narrative”. Throughout the course, students will be dive deeper into the structure of screenwriting, visual storytelling (storyboards), lighting, audio, shot composition, sound design, and digital editing. All students will have many opportunities to learn actual skills necessary to obtain production jobs in the film production industry, such as: producer, director, art director, camera operator, assistant camera, audio technician, director of photography, script supervisor, editor, etc.
Basic Piano – Grade 9-‐12 Length of course: 1 year This course focuses on teaching non-piano majors basic piano skills. Students work at their own pace in a workshop setting. The course is designed to teach the concepts and fundamentals needed to perform on the piano. It will increase musical understanding beyond just reading notes by teaching students a vocabulary of chords and keys, accompaniment patterns, and improvisational techniques. Intermediate Piano – Grade 10-‐12 Length of course: 1 year Prerequisite: completion of Basic Piano This course focuses on teaching non-piano majors intermediate piano skills. Students work at their own pace in a workshop setting. Students will continue working on fundamentals learned in Basic Piano. Students will develop good practice habits, and learn techniques to increase the muscular agility and flexibility of their hands. We will delve into music at its source, find out how music is constructed, and discover the composers and history behind the music. Intro to Visual Arts – Grade 9-‐12 Length of course: 1 year Intro to Visual Arts is a class designed for non-‐visual majors. Students will learn the basics of visual arts. The focus on the course will be sketching still life in various mediums. Students may have an opportunity explore painting, printmaking and sculpture during the year-‐long course. Intro to Dance – Grade 9-‐12 Length of course: 1 year
Intro to Dance is a course designed for non-‐dance majors wishing to explore studies in world dance forms, the development of ballet and contemporary dance. In this seminar class where students – both dancers and non-‐dancers – have the opportunity to apply their creativity combining the artistry of what they do: music & dance; vocal & dance; film & dance; theatre & dance, etc., to produce new genres for performance art where movement is at the core of collaboration and creation. In addition, class-‐is devoted to dance, yoga and kinesthetic stretch and warm-‐up, dance historical appreciation and dance investigations in alignment with the other art forms.
Leadership -‐ Grade 9-‐12 Length of course: 1 year Prerequisite: Students must get elected into position. This course emphasizes and supports the development of leadership skills and habits by providing opportunity for students to plan, coordinate and implement school activities. Student body officers, arts department representatives, and student reps to Shared Decision Making Council, assume significant leadership roles in the school community. Yearbook -‐ Grade 9-‐12 Length of course: 1 year Students work under the guidance of a faculty adviser to plan and create the student yearbook. The yearbook course offers students total involvement in the production of the school yearbook. Activities include: advertising, layout planning, photography, copy writing, and proofing. Students enrolled in yearbook complete various spreads and assignments and copy edit. They master advanced layout and design of desktop publishing, digital imagery and photo placement.
LACHSA Scholars -‐ Grade 11-‐12 Length of course: 1 year Requirements – maintain a 3.0 GPA and attain approval of Counselor This new opportunity places students with ninth graders in supported study hall periods. Under the th guidance of a teacher, LACHSA scholars work one-‐on-‐one and in small groups with 9 grade students addressing academic challenges and creating space for academic enrichment. LACHSA Scholars provides students with an opportunity for service learning and is a graded class. AM Music Ensemble (Practice Period) – Grade 11-‐12
Length of course: 1 year Requirements: Approval of Department Chair Music students are afforded time and a practice room to practice their repertoire. Free Period – Grade 11 -‐12 Length of course: 1 year Requirements: Must maintain a 3.0 GPA and be a student in good standing Free Period allows Junior and Senior students in good standing to have an independent study hall period. During this time they may study at the library or Dolcini’s (coffee shop on campus). Students with a Period 1 or Period 4 Free Period may have home study during that time. Musical Theatre (Dual Major) – Grade 10-‐12 Length of course: Three Years Prerequisite: acceptance into the program through audition Musical Theatre is an integration of spirited vocals, energized dancing and dramatic acting. The class is interdisciplinary and designed to produce selected musical theatre experiences integrating the Arts areas of Dance, Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts. Production aspects include training in voice production (speaking and singing), acting, movement and dance, stressing performance techniques. Musical Theatre (Production) – Grade 10-‐12 Length of course: 1 year Prerequisite: acceptance into the program through audition Acceptance into the Musical Theatre is based on auditions held on a show-‐by-‐show basis. Each semester culminates in a fully staged production. Students are exposed to professional standards and training by professionals in the industry to enhance skill building as preparation for further education and careers in the field of musical theatre performance.
Encompass – Grade 11-‐12 Length of course: 1 year
Prerequisite: acceptance into the program through audition Community Service Credit is awarded upon course competition. Encompass is an elective class offered through a community partnership between LACHSA and the Encompass Programs at the Western Justice Center. Encompass Programs use the arts and facilitated dialogue to reduce prejudice and conflict among youth. Service learning combines community service with classroom instruction, engaging students in critical, reflective thinking and encouraging personal and civic responsibility. Service-learning programs involve students in activities that address community needs while developing their academic skills and commitment to community service. The Encompass class focuses on helping to create safer and more inclusive schools in Southern California. The primary service project uses live theater to train teachers to create safe learning environments for students targeted by bias. Training topics include bullying, and bias related to race, gender or sexual orientation. Other projects involve creating educational videos and website content and using improvisational theater to train students in conflict resolution.
POCE -‐ Principals Office of Community Engagement – Grade 12 Length of course: 1 year Prerequisite: acceptance into the program through application LACHSA’s Principal’s Office of Community Engagements (POCE) incorporates our recruitment and admissions activities as well as other ongoing initiatives in the greater Los Angeles community. As one of the premier arts schools in the United States, LACHSA has a responsibility to actively engage with schools, arts institutions, arts non-‐profits, and community centers to improve the landscape for arts education. Under the leadership of the uniquely qualified Suzanna Guzman, this office has generated excitement among new audiences and helped raise our profile as a leader in arts education.
PDF copy of Elective Description can be found below on the last few pages of the "Academic Course Description" document.
