Ramón C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts

The school offers a full range of standard academic programs as well as specialty programs in four arts academies. Notable programs include: • Music Production • Photography with a film studio • Animation • Contemporary Dance • Theatre performance • Technical theatre Dance Academy Grand Arts treats dance as an integral part of a student's education. Students in the Dance Academy take classes in ballet, modern, tap, hip hop, cultural dance, and choreography. Music Academy All music students receive training in theory, sight reading, technical studies, history, and performance. The curriculum is anchored in the California Visual and Performing Arts Content Standards, and is augmented by extended partnerships with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Los Angeles Opera; adjudicated festivals; and master classes with renowned visiting Master Artists. In the Music Academy, students can take classes in vocal and instrumental performance. Music theory, music composition, concert band, symphonic band, jazz band, string orchestra, symphonic orchestra, concert choir, vocal jazz, vocal technique, and guitar are part of the curriculum. Theatre Academy The Theatre Academy offers stents a variety of classes that develop skills in acting and directing through a four-year acting program. The scope and sequence of each year's curriculum is designed to propel students into higher levels of acting achievement, regardless of initial experience. Based in the California Visual and Performing Arts Content Standards, each grade level includes work that "begins with basic techniques in discovery of self through classes that study how movement, voice production and a freeing of the inhibitions of the mind and body in improvisation classes can enhance performance." The Grand Arts Theatre curriculum includes Acting 1–4, Improvisation 1 & 2, Speech 1 & 2, and Stage Tech 1-3. Visual Arts Academy Students take classes in Principles of Drawing, Ceramics, Painting, Photo, and Life Drawing. Various AP Art classes are offered year-round. The Visual Arts Academy is by far the most popular, with a 30%-40% of students belonging to this academy. Media Arts Academy Media Arts is the most recent edition to the academy's offered at Ramón C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts. Students of the Media Arts Academy take classes in Video Production, Animation, Studio Photography, and Cinematography. == Notable alumni==

• Doja Cat • Lydia Night • Marcel Ruiz • Mason Alexander Park • Ashton Sanders • Arrow de Wilde • Rain Spencer ==History==

When the school opened on September 9, 2009, it was known as Central Los Angeles High School #9. Suzanne Blake was its first principal. In June 2011, the school board renamed the school in honor of former school district superintendent Ramón C. Cortines. As of 2014, it has been unofficially called Grand Arts High School, Cloud 9, Number 9, and most frequently VAPA. In 2013, the principal of La Guardia High School of Music, Arts, and Performing Arts, Kim Bruno, left New York to become the school's new principal. While she has since left, there is no denying the mark she left on the school, including the community name change from VAPA to Grand Arts. Additionally, she was part of the school's restructuring, which included reducing the number of performances per year in favor of creating fewer but higher quality performances. The school has been featured in several commercials, films, and photo shoots. In 2015, the school released a music video called "Dream It! Do It!", directed and choreographed by Debbie Allen. The video was produced and conceived by the school's principal, Kim Bruno. "Dream It! Do It!" featured Grand Arts and Debbie Allen Dance Academy students showcasing the importance of the arts in the Los Angeles community. Kenneth Martinez, the school's first founding Administrator, rose to become Principal in 2015 until 2019. Norman Isaacs, the school's former principal, resigned in protest over what he termed inadequate funding for the school. Though the school was established in 2009, it has seen it's fair share of controversy. In addition to having four principals in 4 years, causing a school wide protest; a student was cited for a dress code violation that lead to a district wide review of dress code rules after a school protest; and a previous assistant principal was arrested in 2022 on allegations of sexual violence against a minor. ==Demographics==

According to U.S. News & World Report, 89% of Ramón C. Cortines' student body is "of color," with 83% of the student body coming from economically disadvantaged households, determined by student eligibility for California's reduced-price meal program. Los Angeles Unified School District's own open-source data reports that 57.3% of the school's student body lives in economically disadvantaged households. Furthermore, less than 15% of the student body is at benchmark or above for the SAT Math section test, representing a roughly 10% decrease as compared to the school's opening year in 2009. ==Facilities==

The school occupies a block in downtown Los Angeles at the north end of the city's "Grand Avenue Cultural Corridor," which also includes the Disney Concert Hall, the Los Angeles Music Center, the Colburn School of Music, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Broad Art Museum. The facility includes seven buildings totaling . The final costs for construction were $171.9 million, and for the entire project $232 million. Architecture The facility was designed by the project team of HMC Architects (Architect-of-Record) and the Austrian firm Coop Himmelb(l)au (Designer-of-Record). They were selected through a design competition in September 2002. In 2006, ground was broken on the school. The design has been controversial, with the school described as "bold", "unconventional", its forms "stunning" and "a testament to the provocative power of art;" its interior spaces as having "a surprisingly rich range of personalities", "prosaic," "almost barracks-like;" its classrooms as "confined and airless," and the cafeteria as "cave-like." The school's most iconic form, a tower over the performing arts building, is a unique and highly visible sculptural form, intended to provide a point of identification and a symbol for the arts in the city. The campus has seven buildings, an outdoor swimming pool, and a full-sized athletic playfield. Administration Building #1 includes the main entry and administration offices as well as the Dance Academy. Library Building #2 is a cone-shaped building that incorporates the library. Theatre and Visual Arts Building #3 includes the Visual Arts Academy and the Theatre Academy. Theatre/concert hall Building #4 includes a 927-seat performing arts theater used for assemblies, plays, and concerts. This building is shaped in the form of the number 9 for the school's old name, CLAHS#9. This building also includes the black box theater, which can accommodate 250 people. The tower and spiraling form sit on top of this building. A main public entry for after-hours use is located at the west corner of the site. Music Academy Building #5 includes the Music Academy. Cafeteria Building #6 is located in the center of the campus and includes the kitchen and students' eating area. Gym and dance studios Building #7 includes the gymnasium, locker rooms, dance studios, an air-conditioned indoor basketball court, a weight room, and a parking garage. Site of Former Cemetery According to Scott Zesch's 2012 book, The Chinatown War: Chinese Los Angeles and the Massacre of 1871, many victims of the Chinese massacre of 1871 were buried in the City Cemetery partially located beneath the site of this school. He quotes Horace Bell as saying, "The city allowed promoters to map [the area], cut it up, and sell if off in small building lots." By 1895, the remains of the last Chinese people were disinterred. Zesch states, "The northern portion of the cemetery is now occupied by the Ramón C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts." ==See also==