Frequently Asked Questions:
Ø How many students attend NESA?
Ø Is it too late to come to NESA if I am going to be a junior (sophomore or senior) next year?
Ø Do I have to move into NEISD to attend NESA?
Ø How many students do you accept?
Ø Does NESA provide transportation to Lee High School?
Ø Do you have tours? Can I shadow a NESA student?
Ø Do I have to take regular high school classes?
Ø Can I stay at my high school for core classes and just take arts classes at NESA?
Ø How many classes a day do I take at NESA and how many at Lee? Explain the schedule to me.
Ø Can I be in more than one major?
Ø Do you have prom and other social events?
Ø Can I participate in sports or other extracurricular activities?
Ø What is ISA? Can I go to NESA and ISA?
Ø What is the NESA application and audition process?
Ø Why do I have to submit a photo?
Ø How soon after the audition will I know if I have been selected to attend NESA?
Ø What if I miss the application deadline in January?
Ø Can I transfer to NESA during the school year?
Ø What are your Box Office policies?
The North East School of the Arts (NESA) is a gifted and talented program in the arts, structured as a magnet school on the campus of Robert E. Lee High School. North East Independent School District supports NESA financially and academically. NESA provides a rigorous academic environment, consisting of a sequential, customized curriculum designed to encourage artistic excellence, integration with multiple arts disciplines, and authentic assessment. NESA students study daily with our unique staff of professional educators who are also working artists with significant training and experience in their individual disciplines. NESA students also participate in master classes and seminars with professional artists, engage in many enrichment activities, and have multiple opportunities to showcase their talents. Students are accepted for the NESA program through an application and formal audition process. All students in grades 8—11 from Bexar County and surrounding areas may apply to audition. Seven majors are offered at North East School of the Arts: Cinema, Creative Writing, Dance, Instrumental Music, Musical Theatre, Technical Theatre, and Visual Arts.
On the campus of Robert E. Lee High School
1400 Jackson-Keller Road
San Antonio, Texas
(Inside Loop 410 between West Avenue and Blanco Road)
How many students attend NESA?
For the 2005-06 school year, 320 students will be enrolled in NESA classes.
NESA is a magnet fine arts high school program. Students in grades 8—11 can apply and audition to attend. Students from all areas of Bexar County and surrounding towns can apply and audition to attend. At this time there is no tuition.
Is it too late to come to NESA if I am going to be a junior (sophomore or senior) next year?
No. Of course we would love to have you starting your freshman year; the more time you are attending classes at NESA, the more you will get out of the program. We accept students entering 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grades.
Do I have to move into NEISD to attend NESA?
NESA accepts students by audition from all over the San Antonio/Bexar County metropolitan area. We have students who attend our program who travel from Bandera, Poteet, New Braunfels, Boerne, and other surrounding towns.
How many students do you accept?
The number of students accepted varies by major. It also depends on the grade level that auditioning students will be entering and how many students will be in each grade level. However, in every case, the acceptances are based on the auditions and not necessarily on a set number of students to be accepted.
Does NESA provide transportation to Lee High School?
NEISD provides transportation for NEISD students from their assigned NEISD campus. For example, if a student would regularly attend MacArthur High School, the student could go to MacArthur and catch an NEISD bus that would bring him/her to NESA.
Students who live outside the district are responsible for their own transportation. Many ride city busses (there is a bus stop right in front of our campus) and many car pool. The Alamo Area Council of Government (AACOG) coordinates a car pool program and we provide that information to our students at the NESA Orientation before school starts. Additionally, students with a driver’s license and car may drive themselves to school. A parking permit is required which may be purchased for $20 for the school year from the Lee Assistant Principal’s office.
Do you have tours? Can I shadow a NESA student?
Because our classes are small and instruction is intense, we do not offer tours or shadowing. It would be very disruptive to the learning and creative processes.
We do however offer an opportunity in the fall to visit our classes, meet our students and talk to our teachers. This event, called “Night With NESA,” is coordinated by pARTners, our very active parent support organization. You can find out when by visiting our website in September and October. It is usually in early November.
Alternatively, we have a full season schedule of events for all of our seven majors. You are always welcome to see our work and possibly visit with some students or teachers at these productions and events.
NESA classes are considerably smaller than regular classes. The size of the class varies by major.
Do I have to take regular high school classes?
Yes. NESA students take their core courses at Robert E. Lee High School. Lee has excellent GT and AP classes. We encourage NESA students to take classes that will fulfill the NEISD Recommended requirements for graduation. (Your Lee counselor will help you select the courses that are needed.)
Can I stay at my high school for core classes and just take arts classes at NESA?
No, NESA is a magnet fine arts high school. NESA students take their core classes at Robert E. Lee High School.
How many classes a day do I take at NESA and how many at Lee? Explain the schedule to me.
All majors (except Musical Theatre) take two classes per semester in their major. Since Lee High School is on a block schedule (with four classes on A Day and four on B Day), you would be in a NESA class for 1½ hours each day. Musical Theatre majors take three NESA classes each semester: voice, acting, and dance.
Additionally, we offer a number of elective classes for NESA students. Many NESA students go to summer school to take core classes so that they can take additional NESA electives during their junior and senior years.
Can I be in more than one major?
You can audition for up to three majors. If you are going to be in 9th or 10th grade and are selected by more than one major, you will have to choose one. You will need to take core courses for the other six classes each semester in order to complete all of the required courses for graduation.
We do allow juniors and seniors who have enough of their core courses completed to double major. They still have to apply, audition, and be accepted by the second major. In that case, they would be taking four NESA courses each semester (two in each major).
Do you have prom and other social events?
NESA has a formal banquet/dance in May each year. Lee High School has Homecoming, Stratford Ball, and Prom, which NESA students can attend.
Students are elected from each major to serve on the NESA Representative Forum. NRF helps plan Night With NESA and the NESA Banquet, provides community service and social activities for NESA students, and is a forum for communication among the seven NESA majors. NESA students also volunteer to tutor other NESA students in academic courses; the tutors have named themselves the NESA Nerds.
Lee High School has a student council where NESA students are often involved.
Can I participate in sports or other extracurricular activities?
It is difficult to participate in sports because of the intense amount of time outside of class that is required for most NESA students. Particularly if you are majoring in Dance, Instrumental Music, Musical Theatre, or Technical Theatre, your rehearsal schedules will not allow for many other practices or competitions. This is one of those difficult times when you must choose which activity you would most like to do. If a particular sport is really important to you and you are accepted for NESA, you should visit with the appropriate coach to see if accommodations can be made for your NESA schedule. Your NESA commitment will always come first.
Many NESA students do participate in other extracurricular activities, such as: National Honor Society, clubs, class officers, PALS, etc. The important thing is to learn how to manage your time effectively so that you can be involved in the activities that you like, as well as maintaining good grades, while fulfilling your obligations to your NESA major.
Can I go to NESA and ISA? What is ISA anyway?
The International School of the Americas (ISA) is another magnet school on the Robert E. Lee campus. Please see the ISA website for more information: www.neisd.net/isa/
Beginning with the 2008-09 school year, any student who desires to attend NESA will be enrolled as a student at Lee High School. Students electing to enroll at ISA may not also enroll in NESA.
(Students who currently [2007-08] participate in NESA and are enrolled at ISA will be grandfathered as long as they do not break enrollment at ISA or NESA. The grandfather clause pertains only to students currently enrolled, not the ISA Freshman class of 2008-09. Any sibling of a currently enrolled student at ISA and NESA must enroll at Lee if they desire to be part of NESA.)
What is the NESA application and audition process?
Applications will be available each year after September 1st on the NESA website or by calling the NESA Office. The application deadline is usually in early January; auditions are held in late January or early February. Every student who submits a complete application is assigned an audition date and time after the application deadline.
Complete applications include:
Why do I have to submit a photo?
Photos are only used for identification purposes. They don’t need to be professional headshots. A school picture or a snapshot is fine.
I have my part of the application complete, but I am waiting on my fine arts teacher or counselor to fill out the recommendation form. Do I have to have those to turn those in with my application?
Your fine arts teacher and/or counselor can mail, pony, or fax the recommendation form and transcript. The most important part of the application is the form that is signed by your parent or guardian. We will not even start an application file for you until that form has been received.
Recommendation forms that arrive in the NESA Office prior to an application signed by a parent/guardian will be filed in an alphabetical folder. When your application signed by a parent/guardian arrives, we will complete your file with the recommendation forms.
How soon after the audition will I know if I have been selected to attend NESA?
We will call all accepted students within a week after all of the auditions have been completed. (Sometimes we have to schedule multiple audition dates because of the number of applicants.) We call accepted students to make certain that they know about special registration dates at Lee High School. All students who audition will receive a letter within two weeks after all of the auditions have been completed.
What if I miss the application deadline in January?
We do accept late applications; the deadline is usually around the end of April, and the late auditions are in late May or early June. Please note that the late auditions are for available spots that were not filled during the auditions in January/February. Your best chance at being accepted for NESA is to apply and audition during the regular auditions. Some majors have a waiting list for students to be called if another student moves from San Antonio or for some other reason cannot attend NESA.
Can I transfer to NESA during the school year?
No. Because our classes have a sequential curriculum, we only accept new students at the beginning of school in August.
The only exception is for a student who is moving to San Antonio from out-of-state or out of the San Antonio area during the school year and who has extensive prior experience in the arts discipline for which s/he wishes to audition. Students in that situation should call the NESA Office and speak with the Director to arrange for an application and audition. Students moving into the area must realize that they will be coming into programs that are already in progress, and they may not be able to accomplish the same goals as students, who have been in the program for the entire year (i.e., all Musical Theatre productions for the season are cast before school starts; Dance numbers by outside choreographers may have been choreographed; Technical Theatre assignments for productions will have been made, etc.)
Do you have a program for middle school or elementary school age students? Do you have programs for adults?
No, we do not.
We do not offer summer camps for the general public.
What are your Box Office policies?
Our regular Box Office hours are Monday through Wednesday or Thursday, the week of the show, from 4:30 PM to 7:00PM. On Thursday and Friday performance days, the box office closes at 6:00 PM for reservations. The NESA Box Office phone number is 442-2510. Ticket reservations will not be made through the regular NESA Office phone number.
The Box Office reopens for WILL CALL and AT-THE-DOOR-TICKETS at 6:30 PM. At that time, ONLY tickets for that day’s performance will be available. You will not be able to pick up or reserve tickets for any other show within one hour of a performance. If you need to purchase tickets for more than one show at one time, please come during regular box office hours.
Please do not call for reservations on Saturday or Sunday, as no one will be able to retrieve your information at that time.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation as our parent volunteers strive to provide efficient and courteous service. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our office during regular business hours, Monday thru Friday, 8:30 AM to 5:00PM.
Link to Season schedule
Complementary tickets: Each student performing or working on a production (name should be in the program or on a list provided by a teacher) will receive one complementary ticket. The student’s name will be marked when a complementary ticket is reserved. A person picking up the complementary ticket will be asked to sign for it.
Volunteers from pARTners for the concession stand and ticket office are allowed to sit in unreserved seats for the performance for which they work. The volunteers are not issued a ticket for a reserved seat.