North Texas Performing Arts Academy Sets Record Enrollment For 2019-2020 School Year

The North Texas Performing Arts Academy is setting enrollment records in its second year. The Academy's inaugural class consists of 35 students, and after just one year NTPA plans to double enrollment of full and part-time students making it the largest private arts academy in North Texas. The Academy will cap its enrollment this year to maintain its quality standards and personalized instruction.

"We are still taking applications and have open positions, but have been overwhelmed with the interest in our Academy," says Darrell Rodenbaugh, Chief Executive Officer of North Texas Performing Arts, and home of the NTPA Academy, a Collin County-based performing arts school. "We want to provide an opportunity for home school and traditional public and private school students that cultivates their creativity, passion and talent and to do that well."

After just one year, the NTPA Academy has already seen its students graduate to leading performing arts universities and gain professional stage and film opportunities. "NTPA Academy opened our eyes to a whole new world we didn't know existed," says parent Tara Reid whose Academy daughter is doing professional film work this summer. "She is learning wonderful new skills and doing something she loves with like-minded students and amazing directors!"

After announcing last Spring the addition of DFW-area educational professional Dr. Lisa Hill to lead the NTPA Academy as its "Head of School" and ending its first full-year of operation with parent and student praise, interest in the Fall semester has more than doubled. "Our current students and parents have given us such enthusiastic and positive feedback and support for their experience here," says Dr. Lisa Hill, Head of School. "I have been extremely impressed with the quality of the instruction, the care and passion of our instructors and the excellent performance and rehearsal facilities."

North Texas Performing Arts draws on three-decades of experience in offering performing arts training with a goal to become the preeminent performing arts educational institution in North Texas. The Academy offers a bridge to the postsecondary and professional world through a rigorous and comprehensive educational and experiential-learning model for students age 11-18, 6th to 12th grade employing instructors with postgraduate degrees, as well as actors currently working in the professional field. The Academy offers full and part-time programs enabling students to earn performing arts certifications in Acting, Music Theatre, General Theatre, Technical Theatre, and Video and Film.

"I wish we could make this opportunity available to every student," says Academy Managing Director DeAnna Stone. "Our focus right now is to select those very best students, part-time or full-time, home school, public or private, that have a real performing arts passion that they want to pursue."

The NTPA Academy offers classes at the Willow Bend Center of the Arts in Plano, Texas and intends to extend into its Fairview and Frisco campuses in coming years. These multiple campuses offer modern facilities with three mainstage and three blackbox performance theatres, eight rehearsal studios, five dance studios and private practice rooms in some 40,000 square feet of space. The Academy offers core educational support to satisfy Texas State requirements, performing arts classes and production experience between the hours of 8AM to 5:30PM.

"North Texas Performing Arts is uniquely qualified to provide this exciting educational alternative," says Dr. Hill. "I am tremendously excited about further developing the innovative and flexible learning environment offered by NTPA and my goal is to deliver the most comprehensive performing arts curriculum available in North Texas."

For more information, please go to ntpa.org/academy

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