OCSA’s upcoming ‘Preview Day’

The Orange County School of the Arts (OSCA) is offering a Preview Day on Jan. 9 from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM. This Preview Day is the last one for this academic year, and the last one before this application season. More information about applications can be found here.

Preview Days are a great day to see the OCSA campus and learn more about the school. There are academic overviews at 9:30 AM, 10:15 AM, 11:00 AM, and 11:45 AM. These will discuss OCSA’s high academic standards and give a look at some important facts about the school.

Questions often center on OCSA’s financial commitment. OCSA is a charter school, which means it functions as a public school in the Santa Ana Unified School District. According to OCSA’s website, “No student is admitted or denied based upon financial capacity. However, each school year we must raise approximately $7.5 million.” OCSA is donation dependent, meaning there is a “suggested” donation, but there are other ways to fulfill this financial gap.

Another major part of the OCSA experience are conservatories, so a big part of Preview Day focuses on those conservatories. During conservatory presentations, the directors of their respective conservatories talk about the classes and experiences that each conservatory offers, as well as a frank discussion about admission expectations.

Many of the conservatory presentations will take place in the pristine Dance, Music, and Science Center, also known as “The New Building.” A map of this can be found here.

The academic overview will be in Symphony Hall, a renovated church that now functions as one of OCSA’s performance spaces.