UCB Parents Summer Recommendations

California State Summer School for the Arts

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Jan 2002

I teach at a program called California State Summer School for the Arts. (CSSSA). This is an arts organization held for one month every summer. Last year four Berkeley High School students attended. I've taught there eight years. CSSSA offers, fine arts, dance, music, creative writing, film/video, animation, theatre. Students do not get high school credit but can receive 3 units for college. If you are interested, look at their website, http://www.csssa.org. You can also email me for any questions. Aida

I live in Berkeley and my son is a student at BHS. I teach at the California State Summer School for the Arts(CSSSA),a program for high school students interested in the arts.I've taught there for the last seven years. This program offers classes in visual arts, music, dance, creative writing, film/video, animation, and theatre. CSSSA is a state run program, so it receives money from the state, donations from corporations as well as a tuition fee charged to the students. CSSSA sends information to all the high schools in the bay area but many schools don't pass that information to the students and parents. Its a great program if any of your teens are interested in the arts. The students are emersed in their majors six days a week. Its extremely disciplined, with classes starting around 9am and students working on their projects til 9pm. Of course theres breakfast,lunch and dinner breaks. Students must apply and send in slides, photos or video of their work. They also need letters of recommendations from their teachers. They can only participate in one of the majors listed above. I teach in the visual arts. WIthin the visual arts you can major in photography, painting, sculpture, ceramics, computers arts and printmaking. The program is held at CalArts which is located in Southern California. Its about thirty minutes north of Los Angeles. The classes are taught by professionals in their fields. Working artists, writers, musicians, etc. Its a four week program held every summer. Tuition is around $1400.00 for the month. I'm not sure of the exact amount. The tuition includes the classes, room and board. Visual arts students pay an extra $65 material fee. There are scholarships, that pay anywhere from a fourth to almost the entire tuition.

If you're interested in knowing more about CSSSA, check out their web site at http://www.csssa.org. You can request an application through the web site. If you have any questions about the visual arts program or any general questions you can contact me at gogogamez@aol.com. Thanks, Aida

I'm glad someone mentioned CSSSA in the last newsletter. My son participated in the Creative Writing program of CSSSA several years ago. I think he enjoyed it. It was competitive to get into at that time. I had looked into other Creative Writing programs and they were 3 to 4 times more expensive. It's a very stimulating atmosphere and I think it was a good opportunity to have a college like experience while still in high school. I would highly recommend it and suggest you look into it shortly. My recollection is there is an early application deadline and for most programs you need an extensive portfolio. Good Luck. Dibsy
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