Mount Vernon, NY – The Denzel Washington School of the Arts in Mount Vernon was founded in 2015. To go there, students have to be good and they have to be smart.
The school provides a shortcut to getting into the arts and entertainment industry, opening doors they never thought could be opened.
Talent walks out of these halls
CBS News New York
Talent, like student singer Matthew Samuels, is what makes Denzel Washington School of the Arts so special.
“It’s just different, honestly, you come to school and you’re just like, ‘What am I going to sing today? What am I going to learn today?'” said another student, Leanna Laino.
“They’ve given us so many opportunities to just grow in our profession in a way that we wouldn’t have been able to do at other schools,” added student Kaitlyn Leslie.
“People say they think of a performing arts school as ‘High School the Musical,’ it really feels like that. You’re in the hallway, hearing people singing, doing their thing,” said student Charlize Ford.
“Having this name come with me to auditions has led me to so many rooms and created so many opportunities for me,” added student Celine Buchanan.
Taught by the best
CBS News New York
With an enrollment of approximately 450 students, audition to get in, and when you get in, it’s not just about making the most of your opportunities, it’s also about making the grade. Aside from artistic achievements, it’s still all about the academics.
“It challenges you artistically, but also academically, because with that you also learn how to balance classes,” said student Madison Govia.
This school gets things done – from acting, to singing, to jazz band to drum lines, the halls are alive with the sound of music.
“My acting teacher, he went to drama school, he actually worked on Broadway, and I just think it’s so interesting to hear his story and get his take, and also get that real Broadway acting experience,” said student Elizabeth Degrandpre said .
That’s one of the many hallmarks of the school – so many of the teachers are artists themselves, including the principal and the band teacher, Grammy nominated music educator Mansa Gory.
“It really puts a fire in them to see the possibilities if you just, you know, develop your craft and strive to grow,” Gory said.
“This is one of those schools where it’s like you get here, and it’s just like that atmosphere and that energy, it really wakes you up,” Ford said.
“It shows you a future that you may not have seen before, it shows you possibilities that you thought you could never achieve, it shows you the potential that you really have inside,” Samuels said. “Because I remember I was always afraid to sing.”
Looking up to the school’s namesake
CBS News New York
And of course everyone loves Denzel Washington. The school comes alive when he walks through the hallways.
“It was quite shocking the first time,” Laino said.
“Everyone was really excited. He’s come here a few times while I’ve been here,” Charlotte Watson said.
“When he comes on, he literally calls kids on stage, he’ll do a Q&A with them intimately, he’ll go into the crowd and he’ll talk,” said assistant director Yvonne Wright. “So they think, wow, he’s so down to earth, he’s so relatable and accessible. I think for them it’s, wow, I see this person in the flesh, and I could probably be just like him.”
Talent is the great equalizer and it is everywhere around this school.