Denver School Of The Arts

"What an amazing school! My grandson has been graced with attending DSA for two years and it has been an amazing learning experience. Life is art, art is life and we need to continue to support in every way places like DSA. Thank you for all the great performances, the art, the creativity! Our family loves DSA!"

"If you hear anyone saying that "This school ruins my mental health." Just know that it's different for every major. Even if your teacher isn't the best, you can always switch to another major. If you don't want to leave your major, you can leave. Though, don't tell people it's the school's fault for the teacher being bad, the teacher can always be fired. I love this school, and from my experience, I haven't seen a downright horrible teacher yet. Everyone has their own experience, so I might be wrong, but I love this school nonetheless."

"I was a stagecraft major. My major stole my work when I had a mental shutdown and didn’t go to school for a couple weeks. Right at dress rehearsal, after cleaning, organizing, graphing, and researching for hours on end, my set teacher emailed me stating that I was pulled from production and would not be given any credit for my work. Their mental health department is a joke. Last year they all quit or moved on before the first semester ended. I ended up dropping out not even a quarter into my senior year. I was put into two online AP courses without my knowledge. My family had to pay for them plus a textbook. Over $340 well spent on nothing. I really thought this school was great at first, but it slowly got worse. However, most of the non-major teachers were actually really nice and helpful when I was there. Though most of them left, too. The teachers of nearly every major I met FOR SURE had wickedly unchecked favoritism. The amount of work is ridiculous; 80 hours of after school work after school per ONE semester if I remember correctly. Staying and constantly working with no breaks (and being yelled at if you are doing nothing whilst on the clock) PLUS homework from every class was just unfair for me. TLDR hours of work stolen, nearly nonexistent mental health department with uncaring counseling staff, tricked into AP classes and wasted over $340, dropped out last year."

"This school is the best-kept secret in the Denver Public School system. You have to get in, but once you are in, it is more of a collection of excellent private teachers than a high school. Class sizes are small to very small and the faculty truly cares about their students. My kid enjoys near one-on-one time with every one of her teachers and it shows in her grades. Further, because of this focus, DSA continues to break out academically, sending students to National-level events for History Day, Debate, and other competitions. The class content is excellent-many kids get 5's and 4's on their AP exams (mine got two 5's and a 4 before she was 15) and is indicative of the college-prep focus the school delivers. Because everyone that is there wants to be there, the student experience is unlike any other. There is no hazing or disruptive classroom behavior that distracts from learning and the environment is insulating and nurturing. My daughter is a Creative Writing major, and as such, has written every form of genre ranging from critical essays to a novel. She is more well-spoken than I am (maybe she should have written this review LOL) and is more prepared for college than I ever was. We all want better for our kids...if your child has an interest in the arts, or an interest in writing like my daughter does, or an interest in doing well in school, you absolutely MUST check out Denver School of the Arts. I love it and so will you..."

"I am currently a 11th grade student attending DSA in the Stagecraft and Design department in my third year. Let me first just say, this school is amazing! I remember when I had my audition for the 2011- 2012 school and I just prayed every night to go here instead of George or East. The atmosphere is amazing, you just walk down the hall and you will see vocal majors singing, dancers practicing, and you will always hear gorgeous music coming from talented students. Also, the Tech department is incredible! Love everyone there and for the first time in my entire life, I feel like I belong here. The only thing you should know about is the academics, I didn't prepare like I should have and my grades did suffer a little from my ignorance. But overall, the best school in the World!"