Five Reasons to Be Excited About The Main Street School of Performing Arts This Year

When a school has “performing arts” in its name, a healthy bit of activity probably comes as no surprise. But even by those standards, the 2011-2012 school year looks to be an exciting one for the .

The downtown, arts-focused charter school—which serves students in ninth through 12^th grades—has a full year of performances and classes that should entertain both students and the public.

To find out what’s in store, Hopkins Patch sat down with MSSPA Executive Director Barbara Wornson and Robert Thompson, the school’s director of outreach and development and a theater instructor.

More Performances

MSSPA is ramping up its performance schedule for the 2011-2012 school year. The school will host a musical in February and two shows each for dance, theater and music. There will also be six “No Shame” student performances—an open mic, audition-free event open to the public.

In all, the school has scheduled a whopping 24 days worth of performances for the year—and that’s just the main events. There are also coffee house performances, an improv group and “in-class performances all over the place.

“We are a busy school. That’s the truth,” Wornson said. “It is a performing arts school. We don’t just study about performing. We actually get them on the stage.”

(See the attached PDF for a schedule of events.)

A new charter sponsor

This year, the University of St. Thomas took over as the school’s authorizer, and that should lead to some exciting partnerships. The university selected six charter schools to sponsor and envisions a school district-like model, Wornson said. The idea is a relationship between the schools similar to the way elementary, middle and high schools interact in a traditional district.

Explained Thompson: “They are sort of looking at us to be partnered with those schools as well as the University of St. Thomas.”

The schools are quite different. MSSPA is the only arts-focused school, for example. But planners still expect a healthy sharing of ideas and resources.

“The common thread is social justice and diversity, and that’s what they’re all about,” Wornson said. “That’s a strong part of what we believe, too, is that everybody should have access—not just those kids who can afford private lessons, everybody who has that artistic bent should have access.”

Increasing enrollment

As of early August, MSSPA had 268 students—about two dozen more students than the year before. That number should be bigger by the time school begins because August is traditionally the month when there’s the most interest in enrollment.

“It shows a lot of support and faith from the community,” Wornson said.

Continuing academic rigor

This year, MSSPA adds AP statistics to its curriculum, bringing the total number of Advanced Placement classes to 16.

The school’s arts emphasis doesn’t allow students to escape the more-traditional academic requirements. They must be passing every subject in order to participate in the arts activities.

“As much as we push the fact that it does say ‘performing arts’ in the title, it also says ‘school,’ and academics are job one,” Thompson said.

Yet the arts focus does allow the school to customize teaching to its unique student population.

“We infuse all of our classes with the arts. So we believe that these are kids that come here because they learn best through the arts. And so you might see a dance on an atom. For studying history, that’s perfect. Then you’ve got to do a tableau of Gettysburg or something,” Wornson said.

Said Thompson: “Our academic teachers are also very in tune with the arts. A lot of them are artists in their own right. What we have sort of distilled down to is that our students remember the material if they can apply it to their love—which is music, theater, dance.”

Involvement with the community

MSSPA sits squarely in Hopkins’ downtown and plans to continue involvement in the city and surrounding area.

Its work with Teens Alone continues for the third year in a row, notably with an upcoming homeless teen summit. The annual “Support the Street” street festival will take place again this spring. Wornson said the school also plans to work with a Police Department liaison to reach out to diverse communities within Hopkins, and it will continue its connection with senior communities.

The school also provides benefits for neighboring arts institutions, such as Stages and Hopkins Center for the arts, in a more abstract, long-term way.

“We know that every student that comes through here is not necessarily going to end up playing Carnegie Hall, being on Broadway or dancing with the Bolshoi,” Thompson said. “But what we also do is we cultivate the artist and we cultivate the interest in the art. And so we are creating audience for those people, as well.”