Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, Performing arts high school in Upper West Side, Manhattan, United States
Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School is a grades 9 through 12 institution in Manhattan, New York, specializing in intensive artistic training in music, theater, dance, visual arts, and technical theater. The building sits near Columbus Circle and offers over twenty floors with classrooms, dance studios, theater stages, galleries, and professional recording rooms available to students for daily training and performances.
The school was created in 1961 by merging two specialized schools, the High School of Music & Art from 1936 and the School of Performing Arts from 1948. The move to the current location on Amsterdam Avenue happened in 1985 when the new building was completed.
The institution links the name of New York mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, a champion of arts education, with the philosophy that young people can achieve academic success through artistic expression. Students move between conventional classrooms and specialized practice rooms and develop a dual identity as teenagers and as emerging artists in their respective disciplines, which shapes daily life with constant rehearsals, performances, and public presentations.
Admission requires an audition or portfolio review in the chosen art form along with an academic evaluation by the school. Students should expect intensive practice schedules and many activities extending beyond regular class hours, including performances and rehearsals.
The building stands directly next to Lincoln Center and gains access to one of the largest collections of concert halls and theaters in New York. Students benefit from regular invitations to rehearsals and performances by professional artists working right next door and occasionally holding master classes in the school's spaces.
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