Communications Arts High School

Communications Arts High School
Address
11600 FM 471 W San Antonio, Texas Bexar County, 78253
Coordinates	29°30′01″N 98°43′13″W / 29.500237°N 98.720151°W / 29.500237; -98.720151Coordinates: 29°30′01″N 98°43′13″W / 29.500237°N 98.720151°W / 29.500237; -98.720151
Information
School type	Public, High School Magnet
Founded	1995
School district	Northside Independent School District
Superintendent	Dr. John Folks
School number	[phone]
Principal	Windy Barker
Vice principal	Randolph Neuenfeldt
Grades	9 - 12
Color(s)	Red
Logo
Website	Communications Arts website

Founded in 1995, Communications Arts High School (or more commonly referred to as CommArts or CAHS) is a magnet school in San Antonio, Texas, United States. The school is a part of the Northside Independent School District or referred to as NISD. The school has between 100-150 students per class, only accepting 150 freshmen per year.

The school is a "school within a school" sharing the campus with William Howard Taft High School. The school specializes in multimedia, communications, and creative writing. The required specialized courses include Intro to Multimedia, Media Criticism, Communication Applications (Speech), Multimedia, Video Technology, and Independent Study Mentorship (ISM). With only one teacher per subject per grade, the school has become a tightknit community who still remain in contact long after graduation. Each student is required to take certain AP classes, such as World History AP in their sophomore year, both US History AP and English 3 AP in their junior year, etc. Students also have the choice to take more AP classes at Taft. The school allows the students to create their own class fundraisers which has resulted in money-makers such as Ninerpalooza, a rock concert benefiting the class of 2009. The students also raise money for charity with their Thanksgiving celebration of TurkeyFest and help the environment with their Earth Day Festival. The students have many freedoms other schools do not have, such as their "Outdoor Classroom", a wooded area filled with benches and picnic tables where classes can congregate, have class meetings and eat lunch.

Students attending Communications Arts High School have frequent contact with William Howard Taft High School. Communications Arts does not offer some math and science classes, so students must go to Taft in order to take these classes. In addition, students at Communications Arts High School are able to participate in extracurricular activities at William Howard Taft High School (including their Band, Orchestra, Athletics, and Academic Decathlon teams, Cheerleading,Pep Squad... etc. ).

The idea behind the creation of the school is that many jobs of the future have not even been created yet. By perfecting their communications skills, a student will be prepared for any job, whether it exists now or is yet to be created.

In 2008 and 2009, it was ranked 26th [1] and 17th [2] on Newsweek magazine's America's Top Public High Schools, respectively.

In 2009, the school was rated "academically acceptable" by the Texas Education Agency.^[1]

See also (other NISD Magnet Schools)

• Business Careers High School
• Health Careers High School
• John Jay Science and Engineering Academy
• Construction Careers Academy

References

1. ^ "2009 Accountability Rating System". Texas Education Agency. http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/account/2009/index.html. 

External links

• Communications Arts High School