Detroit High School for the Fine and Performing Arts

During the past year we had an exchange student who attended the Detroit School of the Arts, so there were lots of opportunities for us to interact with the teachers, staff and other students.

Some of the pluses:

1) It's a beautiful campus. The building is new. It's bright and airy. It's very clean. There's a huge stage for preformances.

2) The counseling staff really seem to care about the students. Our student made a lot of adjustments on her class schedule and they were always willing to work with her.

3) The art-related classes are very good and they have a wide variety of options.

On the downside:

1) Despite being given such a good opportunity, some of the students just aren't that serious about their art or their academic classes. There was a lot of skipping school to hang out at Wayne State or Starbucks.

2) The building itself is very tall with lots of stairs. If I was a student there I would not be happy about going up and down five or six flights 8-10 times a day. The elevator is only for students with medical disabilities that prevent them from taking the stairs.

3) I got a real shock when the first report card arrived and I saw that our student had a number of skipped classes and more than a dozen tardies. Frankly, I think the school should call you the first time your student misses class or is unually late with no reasonable excuse. I would have liked significantly more communication rather than having to hear about things way after the fact.

Known for having late singer songwriter Aaliyah as part of its alumni, the Detroit High School for the Fine and Performing Arts is a one of a kind public school in Motown. Offering not only general education studies, but more importantly art classes in a variety of mediums, this 9-12th grade school is herald as the best of the best among local public schools.

Opened over a decade ago by Denise Darcel Davis, this premiere public school offers students studies in dance, television communications, theater, visual arts and more on top of math, science, English, etc. Students are accepted only on an
audition/portfolio basis, so the stakes are high, but definitely worth it.

The school moved in early 2000 to its multi-million dollar facility off of Cass Ave in Midtown. For those seeking a one up in the field of art this is the Detroit school to do it in. As an alumni myself I would first recommend attending for the brilliant art teachers and the advantage students receive in their field of study. The school days are a bit longer, but students of DSA receive the advantage, DSA students consistently score higher on Michigan standardized test than any local public school.

I am a student currently attending DSA and I love my school. I am an exceptionally brilliant child and I have all A's. I adore my band class and my band director Mr.Malabed the most. even though i want to be a vocal minor next year. the only downside about dsa is the thousands of stairs lol and the face that we don't have any sports or a real mascot because we get clowned all the time because we supposedly are the "achievers". but other than that dsa is the best school ever!