Fairfax Academy for Communications and the Arts - Preparing Students for College and Industry

Nestled in Fairfax High School is a school within the school. But for many kids, The Fairfax Academy for Communications and the Arts is not just a school – it’s a chance to be exposed to more than everyday curriculum that prepare them to work in a variety of industries.  Almost 500 students from over 20 schools across Fairfax County attend the Academy, one of six academies within Fairfax County Public Schools. The goal of the program is to offer advanced course work, technical skills and focus on professional opportunities within specific disciplines to 11^th and 12^th graders. 

The Academy, found within Fairfax High School, offers advanced courses in Chinese, Dance, Fashion Design, Korean, Music and Computer Technology, Musical Theatre, Professional Photography Studio and Professional Television Production.  Taught by former industry professionals, the Academy provides a rigorous curriculum based on not only the subject, but about the industry as well so students are exposed to a wide variety of jobs within the field. Students can choose from morning or afternoon sessions, while spending the other time at their base school. In addition, the Academy boasts a strong alumni network that often returns to the school to share tips, struggles, and successes of their own. 

The Academy includes a working television studio, an industry standard software and technology lab for music theory and composition, a state-of-the-art language lab and the only professional digital photography class in the county.  

“Our students thrive not only in their Academy classes, but in their general coursework as well,” said Diego Wilson, Fairfax Academy’s administrator. “Our goal is to prepare them for advanced college courses and also in their chosen industry.”

Mr. Wilson is right. Of the 2012 graduates from the Academy, 95 percent attended college and 80 percent took AP or IB coursework at their base school. Fairfax High School and Academy alumna Aubrey May, a junior at George Mason University,  felt attending classes in Dance and Musical Theatre at the Academy helped her prepare for college.  May feels she learned important skills such as organization and time management from her time at the Academy, juggling a full load of studies in addition to preparing for performances. But the most important skill May learned from her teachers in high school was professionalism. “It takes some getting used to when you go from dancing purely for enjoyment to dancing for a daily grade where professors expect to see immediate results for the critiques they provide,”  said May.  “My exposure to the Academy helped me be prepared for this as my Academy dance teacher and college dance professors share many of the same expectations.”

Academy students have won national contests such as the David’s Bridal Design Your Own Prom Dress in 2012, scholarships to study abroad, nominated for Cappies and have been inducted into the National Dance Honor Society.  After high school, students from the Academy have gone on to colleges such as USC Film School, the Berklee School of Music, NYU Tisch School of the Arts and the Fashion Institute of Technology.  

For May, the Academy also offered her an escape from some of the everyday challenges facing a typical teenager. “The Academy was a part of my day that my general peer group knew little about,” said May. “ In the midst of the normal high school daily drama it was a great relief to escape and be a part of a different group of people.  Especially my senior year, my Academy dance class was a group of diverse dancers both in their training and in their lives.  It was always nice to know that all personal issues could be left at the door when we walked in the dance studio and we could just focus on dance.”