New Student Orientation at Dreyfoos

New Student Orientation at Dreyfoos School of the Arts will be held on Thursday, August 14, 2008 from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. This is when freshmen see Dreyfoos School of the Arts, and learn about it in detail.

First Day of School

The first day of school at the Drefyoos School of the Arts will be Monday August, 18 2008.

Dreyfoos Schedules Given Out

Schedules for students at Dreyfoos School of the Arts were given to art deans today.

Students have emailed Dreyfoos.org reporting that there have been many mistakes and errors made. Especially students who were not assigned a third-period class. As there has been in past years most students at Dreyfoos did not get assigned to all of their requested classes.

Dreyfoos School of the Arts Graduation Photos

The Palm Beach Post has provided photos of the Class of 2008 Graduation at Dreyfoos School of the Arts here. The photo gallery features photos of students, teachers and guests.

Farewell to the Fighting Pianists

Farewall to the Fighting Pianists is an article about atheltics at Dreyfoos School of the Arts. It also talks about the history of Dreyfoos's campus, the students and other information. Parts of the article are below ..

Dreyfoos operates in the city's second schoolhouse, which is located on a hill overlooking CityPlace. One of the campus buildings was opened in 1908 for the town's pioneer children and became the county's first integrated school in 1970. In 1997, the school district spent $29.5 million to refurbish the three Mediterranean- and art-deco-style buildings that now make up its campus. The district renamed the school for Dreyfoos, a former television station owner, after he gave $1 million to the 1,300-student arts program.

Besides, Rader noted, girls far outnumber boys at Dreyfoos, and the school's large population of openly gay students is less likely to be athletic. "Guys come for the odds," she added, "and when they get here, they find out they're gay anyway."

It's not that Dreyfoos students aren't competitive, 16-year-old Jessica Rader explained. Students show their spirit in recitals or art shows, and the theater troupe contends for statewide honors. Those activities are fiercely contested because students dream of attending Julliard School or performing on Broadway. Some even enroll in community college classes at night to boost their credentials.

Former Dreyfoos Principal Amelia Ostrosky

This part can be seen on Superintendent Art Johnson's biography in the FL Sun Sentinel:

In 2001, he transferred Dreyfoos School of the Arts Principal Amelia Ostrosky to Jupiter Middle School and launched a broad investigation of personnel at the school. The investigation outraged Ostrosky supporters and ended up costing the district more than $1 million in investigative and legal fees.

Three articles about the case and related information can be found at these links:

• FORMER DREYFOOS PRINCIPAL REACHES AN OUT-OF-COURT SETTLEMENT; SHE HAD SUED FORMER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER
  
• DREYFOOS CASE COMES TO END; BOARD AWARDS OSTROSKY $200,000
• OSTROSKY, DISTRICT SETTLE FOR $200,000

Official Name

A visitor emailed Dreyfoos.org to ask this question about Dreyfoos School of the Arts:

What is the **actual name** of the school?? I always see different versions and am confused..

The actual name for Dreyfoos School of the Arts is Alexander W. Dreyfoos, Jr. School of the Arts.

Most students refer to the school as:

1. Dreyfoos
2. Dreyfoos School of the Arts
3. DSOA
4. AWDSOA

Names much like Dreyfoos High School of the Arts, Dreyfoos School of the Performing Arts, Dreyfoos High School of the Performing Arts, and the like are not right.

Official Blog

Dreyfoos School of the Arts now has an official blog, which can be found at http://awdsoa.blogspot.com. Dreyfoos.org will continue to post news and information relating to Dreyfoos School of the Arts on this blog.

Seniors Graduation

Graduation for Dreyfoos School of the Arts will take place on Thursday, May 22 at the Kravis Center.

Principal Ellen Van Arsdale, Superintendent Dr. Art Johnson, and the valedictorian and salutatorian from Dreyfoos School of the Arts are expected to speak. For more information on speakers, see this article about Dreyfoos in the Palm Beach Post.

"Congratulations, graduates" in Palm Beach Post

There was another reference to the graduation conflict at Dreyfoos School of the Arts in a introduction in a Palm Beach Post article on Sunday May, 18 (link). A part of the article is below...

When Palm Beach County Schools Superintendent Art Johnson refused to bend the rules so that a Florida Supreme Court justice could speak at the graduation ceremony for Dreyfoos High School of the Performing Arts, I considered it to be a valuable life lesson for that magnet school's elite students.

Life Lesson: Sometimes, stupid rules apply even to privileged people.