Is Niche Academy at Culver City High Worth the Effort?

With a daughter who just entered Culver City High School, I was very interested in the AVPA program there. I had heard from many parents how great it was.

So the other night, we ate a fast dinner and headed over to the Robert Frost Auditorium for the AVPA orientation. I have to say—based on the information we received—it is a very impressive set of classes that are well over what a publicly funded high school has to offer.

Culver City is extremely fortunate to have such a great opportunity for its high schoolers to not only be able to participate in something like this, but also earn some college credits at the same time. We learned that the curriculum is divided into five courses: art, film, music, theater and dance. Each course has a creative director that manages it. After the main presentation by Dr. Tony Spano, we headed off to the art and theater breakout groups to get some deeper understanding of what each course requires of its students—and what the students could expect to gain from it.

My daughter was a little overwhelmed by it all, but seems to be leaning towards signing up for theater, as she has a particular interest in set design.

We will see how things develop in the next couple of days, but I was struck by how fortunate we are as residents of Culver City to have such a fantastic program right here on our doorstep. Sure, it takes a lot of parent volunteering, donations and fundraisers to make AVPA run properly. It also takes a huge time commitment from the students themselves—with lots of after-school hours eaten up by the demands required by AVPA.

But everyone I have spoken to who has had a child involved in AVPA has nothing but great things to say about the response from their children.

I truly hope that my daughter decides to jump in and give it a try. I can see that this program really teaches these young adults about commitment and being there for others. I believe she will learn and experience selflessness when selfishness is the norm for a teenager. Agree?

These are qualities that will help our students for the rest of their lives. In my own life, I have always participated in Team and Co. laboratorial sports or events. The life lessons learned by being part of a team are—in my view—more valuable than the content of the course itself.

The AVPA is not only turning out future actors, singers, musicians or dancers; they are helping create valuable members of society.  

Mike King is an Associate Partner at Partners Trust Real Estate and Acquisitions. He is passionate about three things: Family, Real Estate, and McVities Chocolate Biscuits (or cookies to the uninitiated). You can connect with Mike on Twitter @mikeking4re and on Facebook.