Las Vegas Academy

Las Vegas Academy of the Arts
Originally built as Las Vegas High School
Location
315 S. 7th St. Las Vegas, NV 89101
Information
School type	Magnet High School
Motto	From Excellence to Eminence
Established	1992
School district	Clark County School District
Dean	Alvin Dizon
Principal	Scott Walker
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	1,705 (as of 2012-2013)
School colour(s)	Teal and Silver
Publication	Accolades
Website	http://www.lasvegasacademy.net/

The Las Vegas Academy of the Arts is a magnet high school located in Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada. Students are accepted through an audition process and claim a "major" pertaining to performing arts, visual arts, or liberal arts.

The Las Vegas Academy's campus is located on the site of the first high school in Las Vegas. The school uses two of the buildings which were constructed in 1930 and opened in the fall of 1931. Las Vegas High School was the first high school in Las Vegas but caused controversy at the time for its location being too far from where people lived (which has changed as the city grew around the school). The school originally had three buildings: the tri-level Main building on the corner of 7th St. and Bridger Ave., the Gymnasium, and a third building which housed manual arts (shop classes) and in later years government classes. It was torn down in 1969. The two remaining buildings are listed as the Las Vegas High School Academic Building and Gymnasium on the National Register of Historic Places, representing the best of the art-deco architecture of the 1930s. The school's outer appearance has been maintained but the interior has been changed since its original construction.

In 1992, plans for a magnet school for the arts were announced, and on August 23, 1993, Las Vegas High School was re-opened as the Las Vegas Academy for International Studies and Performing Arts (Visual Arts was added the following year) by founding principal Bob Gerye. Starting with only 735 students, the student body has since grown to an excess of 1700 students attending the school pursuing majors in the performing and visual arts, and international studies. (The CCSD Board of Trustees officially changed the school name in November 2014.) Las Vegas Academy has been honored by the U.S. Department of Education as both a New American High School and a Blue Ribbon School. The Arts Schools Network (ASN) awarded LVA the Outstanding Arts School 2013-2014 and Exemplary Arts School status for 2014-2016.

The Las Vegas Academy lists a selection of majors for which students audition and then focus on throughout their four years of high school alongside standard academic coursework. Students go through an audition process in order to be admitted to the Academy. Along with a successful audition, in order to receive admittance into the Academy, an applicant must have a grade point average to a 2.0 or higher.