The Column

To our beloved CPFA community,

During the last year of unprecedented challenges and hardships, 2021 was also a year of great triumph, change and creativity. Many young artists shared their art with the world and music and dance created an outlet of expression through the platform of social media. In 2021, we watched as Amanda Gorman became the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history at the age of 22, and more than 100 unfinished instrumental pieces that survived from Mozart’s final decade were experimentally completed by Mozart expert, Timothy Jones. These accomplishments and contributions to society are examples of the resiliency and beauty in human nature, a resiliency that was no doubt vital for many during 2021, and show the importance of the arts to our overall health and well-being.

The Center for Performing and Fine Arts community was no exception to resiliency as we returned to in-person learning in the fall of 2021. Since August, the students at CPFA have proven to themselves and this community that art and passion will always prevail. From the Fall Festival and Winter Extravaganza to Friday Night Cafes and department showcases, art and joy are once again being created within the walls of CPFA. Thank you for being on this journey with us.

- Sophia Severson

CPFA is temporarily closed until Tuesday, January 18. Students are encouraged to use this week to catch up on any missing work, complete assignments, and continue to practice their instruments or techniques in anticipation for our return to in-person instruction.

The end of Marking Period 2 is Friday, January 21.

Our next Pillars meeting will be held virtually at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 25 in Mr. Allen's Zoom room.

The NAHS students, and Fine Arts teachers are excited to announce the Matting and Framing Demo workshop to be held on Friday, January 22 from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. in the 3D Art Studio at CPFA. The demonstration is open to any student or parent and will train on the “art” of professional fine art presentation for gallery walls. It will be a hands-on demo, so come dressed in comfy shoes and clothes that are “safe” in an art room environment. We look forward to teaching you framing tricks and appreciate your help prepping student work and art studios for the Winter Art Exhibit coming up soon in February, for which dates and details will be announced shortly.

Sign up HERE, however last minute “drop-ins” are welcome!

Our next Friday Night Café will take place on Friday, January 28, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. On-site and remote access students are encouraged to both perform and attend! Watch for performer sign-ups on the CPFA Homepage in the days to come.

Live performance has always been an important and special part of the Center for Performing and Fine Arts. Over the last year and a half, where live performances were not possible, the CPFA community adapted and found ways to bring their art into the world through virtual and socially distanced means. Our students stood strong in the face of adversity while patiently waiting for the chance to reunite and once again celebrate their love of the arts, together. That time finally came…

The CPFA Fall High School and Middle School Musical, Oliver!, was a week many of us will never forget! Congratulations to the cast and crew for an incredible show where twenty-five students were involved and nearly four hundred members of the CPFA community attended over six different performances! It was the first live production at CPFA since the pandemic began and it was wonderful to have live theatre back in the building. This is also the first production that students on the production team could put our newly installed lights, cameras and software into action. A special shout out to the wonderful direction of Ms. Sophie Gore, filming by Mr. Jonathan Council, and music direction by Mrs. Brigitte Rottman!

Next up in the theatre season is the CPFA Winter Middle School Play, Sandbag, Stage Left, or One Dead Dolly. This hilarious murder mystery parodies courtroom dramas such as Witness for the Prosecution and 12 Angry Men. The play is officially cast and rehearsals began last week. Directed by our terrific, longtime Theatre Music Director and CPFA parent Brigitte Rottman, the show will run Thursday, February 17, 2022 - Saturday, February 19, 2022. Tickets will be available online at www.cpfa.booktix.com.

Following closely on the heels of Sandbag is the CPFA Spring High School Play, Hamlet. Rehearsals began with the newly announced cast on Tuesday, January 4, 2022. It is directed by CPFA Theatre Department Chair, Jason Greenfield. Our production is set in the 21st-century social media-obsessed world. Prince Hamlet, a popular youtube influencer, deals with the scrutiny of celebrity as his family tears itself apart. Forced to avenge his father’s death, but paralyzed by the task ahead, Hamlet rages against the impossibility of his predicament, threatening both his sanity and the security of the state. Hamlet will have four performances from Thursday, March 17, 2022 - Saturday, March 19, 2022. For tickets go to www.cpfa.booktix.com.

Questions about tickets and/or volunteering can be addressed to CPFA Theatre Parent Liaison, Dawn Pfeifer Reitz, by emailing dawn.p.reitz@gmail.com or texting (610) 207-3090.

The Theatre Department is very excited to announce our collaboration with professional scenic designer Zoe Hurwitz. Ms. Hurwitz has a graduate degree in Set Design from the Yale School of Drama and an MFA from NYU’s Tisch School of Design for Stage and Film, as well as many professional credits in New York and London.

This year’s exhibit will showcase High School and Middle School students’ Fine Art in a new, unique and collaborative manner. The curatorial debut by students in collaboration with teachers will take place during the school day on Tuesday, February 22 and Wednesday, February 23. Family and friends of the CPFA community will be invited to attend a special tour of the gallery exhibit after school on these days from 3:15 - 4:30 p.m. National Art Honor Society (NAHS) students will act as tour guides. Highlights to view will include the AP Photography student photographs of the CPFA dance students, Middle and High School student work contributed to the online national American LOVE Project, as well as Middle School Integrated Arts thematic ‘Water’ posters that were created with water conservation as inspiration. This year we will utilize the new TV screens throughout the building as a new manner of creative presentation! There will also be performances from the CPFA jazz band, The Jazz Mavericks, incorporated throughout the tour. You can stop by any time during the event and feast your eyes and ears in the delights of our student's many talents. All CPFA safety protocols will be in effect during the tour event.

“THE AMERICAN LOVE PROJECT meets a moment in time when Americans feel divided, traumatized by the Covid-19 pandemic and increasingly longing for the light of LOVE and HOPE. How will we come together to solve the urgent issues facing our nation? With The American LOVE Project we create a vision – with ART – to show us who we are and how we will realize the promise of our nation.” - theamericanloveproject.org

Students in Middle School Drawing & Painting, and High School Graphic Design are participating in this positive, national collaboration and have been working to create their own LOVE Project! We began with Social & Emotional Learning guided questions and sketching about what LOVE means to us. Students chose a quote and experimented with different kinds of typography and image strategies. The final designs are beautiful expressions of LOVE! Artwork will be submitted, at the end of November, to the website above to be included in their online gallery.

Please make sure you have downloaded the Remind app on your phones and any other mobile device you may have. This is the platform we use to best communicate with our students and families in case of inclement weather.

Once you have downloaded the app you will be prompted to enter your email address, enter an emailed verification code, and select your school and role. We are identified as Pennsylvania Leadership Cs. If you have any questions, please reach-out to Ms. Sophia Severson (sseverson@palcs.org)

The Tri-M Music Honor Society completed their shoe drive fundraiser on December 31 and are awaiting the arrival of the truck that will be picking up our donations. With the help of our community, Tri-M collected over 30 bags of donated footwear, with each bag containing 25 pairs of shoes! We will have an exact count and the results of the fundraising to share soon. Tri-M also plans to bring back last year’s successful Kahoot Trivia Contests, with CPFA community members competing for gift cards to various local and online stores!

After school events and activities at CPFA are only made possible by our student, parent and family volunteers! You can always find volunteer opportunities HERE.

If you want to get involved, but aren't sure how or for what, we encourage you to touch base with CPFA Administrative Assistant Ms. Sophia Severson (sseverson@palcs.org).

Congratulations to Mr. Harmantzis and the CPFA vocal music students for a triumphant return to live performance at the Winter Vocal Music Concert on December 16, 2021. Special thanks to Ms. Bennett for piano accompaniment, as well as Tri-M’s Music Concerts Committee members and PILLARS parent volunteers for the help behind the scenes. The video recording of the concert is officially available on the CPFA Homepage in the Music Department module.

Due to the continuing health concerns from the COVID-19 Omicron variant surge, the Music Department unfortunately had to cancel the Winter Instrumental Music Concert scheduled for Tuesday, January 11. This concert will not be rescheduled. Mr. West and Mr. Townsend would like to thank their students for putting forth their best efforts in mastering the concert repertoire and look forward to revisiting some of that work while moving forward with preparations for repertoire for the Spring Instrumental Music Concert on May 10, 2022.

The middle school dance students will be celebrating National School Choice Week (January 23 - January 29, 2022) by learning and performing the Official 2022 National School Choice Week dance to “The Biggest Moment of Our Lives.” The students will record the performance and share it virtually to celebrate!

Starting in January, the dance faculty will be making plans and moving forward with inspirations for choreography and costumes for the annual Spring Dance Concert which will be held on Friday, May 6 (location TBD). Please mark your calendars for the rehearsals on Wednesday, May 4 and Thursday, May 5 from 4:30 - 8:30 p.m., and for the dance concert on Friday, May 6 at 7:00 p.m. For the dance concert, students will arrive at 4:30 p.m., doors open at 6:30 p.m. for the curtain at 7:00 p.m.

The National Honors Society for Dance Arts upcoming meeting will be held on February 1, 2022 during lunch.

On February 1, 2022 theatre students will partake in a Master Theatre Class taught by Brooke Shilling. The session will focus on Devised Performance. Ms. Shilling has her BFA in Acting from Ithaca College and an MFA in Devised Performance from the Pig Iron School at University of the Arts. The workshop will be during periods 1 & 2. Students wanting to take the workshop must get permission from their teachers in advance (it is up to their discretion).

Marking Period 2 ends on Friday, January 21. If you are in need of academic support, please email Ms. Mazzio at lmazzio@palcs.com to set up time to meet virtually or in-person.

To help jump-start the new year, January’s counseling theme is motivation. Throughout this month, we will explore setting specific and attainable goals, how to overcome obstacles, how to focus, and how to optimize productivity while doing homework. All information and resources can be found on the CPFA Guidance Canvas page under Important Announcements.

The next Life After High School workshop will be Lunch with your Counselor. The workshop will be held on Tuesday, January 25 during lunch in the Atrium. Enjoy free pizza while having your questions about college, job applications, career guidance, and more answered! All high school students are encouraged to attend. RSVP here by Monday, January 24. See you there!

As we all know, Covid rates have greatly increased this winter. With Covid, colds, and flu season among us, please stay home if you are feeling unwell! If you are sick, you will not be penalized for staying home. In the case that you are absent, please have a parent or guardian notify Ms. Severson and, if you are feeling well enough, reach out to your teachers to stay up to date with the work that you will miss.

Our masks continue to be one of the best ways to protect each other from the spread of germs. On top of masking, please continue to wash and sanitize your hands frequently and maintain distance between yourself and others, when possible. If interested in getting vaccinated for Covid-19, please see the resources below and consult your physician if you have further questions about vaccines. CPFA will continue following the most up to date CDC and Chester County Health Department guidelines.

This year, CPFA has added in COVID testing as another layer of protection for our in-person students and staff. Our goal is to keep everyone as safe as possible, to optimize health, safety, and learning. Covid PCR testing is done weekly at CPFA for those who have signed up. Participation in this program helps schools stay safer against the risk of COVID-19.

Pool testing, which is a PCR test, is used to detect COVID in asymptomatic students and staff in our schools. This program is COMPLETELY OPTIONAL. You may opt-in by signing the consent, utilizing the link attached. To opt-out, simply do not sign up. Students and staff WILL NOT be tested unless we have consent on file. We will be testing a designated group of middle and high schoolers each week. Again, only individuals with consents signed will be tested.

This is a self-administered nasal swab test for ages 13 and older (Anyone under 13 needs the school nurse to administer the test for them). Test results come back in approximately 48-72 hours. Any positive results will be notified and contact tracing will occur per policy. This program will help keep students in the classroom and prevent the spread of COVID-19 through weekly testing for students and staff.

To opt in to the program for both students and staff, please visit the following site:

https://testcenter.concentricbyginkgo.com/invite-by-code

Access Code: 0VIWN8

Chester County Health Department Resources:

https://www.chesco.org/4376/Coronavirus-COVID-19

https://www.chesco.org/4822/COVID19Vaccine

https://www.chesco.org/4460/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Testing-Information

https://www.chesco.org/4397/Coronavirus--Resources-for-Schools

If you have any questions please contact the school nurse, Jennifer Grablewski, at jgrablewski@palcs.org. Let's continue working together to keep CPFA safe and healthy!

Check out the December edition of The Column here for more information on extensions and attendance, a recap of Love Your Body week, a CPFA student spotlight, and more!