The 14th Conservatory

Today is a pivotal day in a couple of ways. First, if you are new to OCSA, or are a current student transferring conservatories, today is the final day to confirm you enrollment or transfer. (Even if you’ve done this already, check your email right now: I did ours on Saturday but got an email today from OCSA stating that they had not received confirmation and that our spot would be given away to someone on the wait-list if we didn’t do it by 5 p.m. — YIKES! (Got that all worked out, no worries!) Additionally, today is the final day for ALL current OCSA students to turn in their Parent Funding Agreement (PFA). Again, if that is not received today by 5 p.m. you’ll be saying bye-bye to your spot at OCSA.

Today also is meaningful for all of those who were wait-listed this year because, as you can tell from the above, it begins the process of figuring out how many coveted spots will need to be filled. I am not sure when they will start contacting those on the wait-list once this tally is finalized but I am sure it won’t be long! If you hear something, will you let us know?

Well, after a roller coaster of a week, the ride continues! OCSA managed to catch me by surprise even while I was waiting/checking-my-inbox/waiting/checking-my-inbox. By sending out the audition results emails today after 5 p.m., my guard was down. I figured the day was done and had already mentally convinced myself that Friday would be the day.

Then I got busy and was away from my phone for a stretch. When I eventually picked it up, it was all of you who let me know that the RESULTS WERE IN! I had a bunch of notifications — your comments expressing good news and bad news and the “in-between” (wait-listed!).

It actually worked out really well for us though; my son was with me and he saw the notifications too. We knew in an instant: the email..it had arrived! He grabbed my phone…”I want to read it!” (My heart was pounding…I was so nervous. I knew his conservatory of choice (IM/Guitar Program) had so few spots available. I also know how hard he has been working and how much he wanted to get in.) I took a deep breath and just watched his eyes as he read. I knew, either way, they’d tell me everything I needed to know.

But, I was wrong. It was the screaming and the arms around my neck and the great big bear hug that gave it away. He’d done it. He is in! What a moment. Even after all the agony and frustration of waiting all week, once again, it seems, everything happens for a reason. The way we found out, the fact that we were together at the exact moment we discovered the email was in, and of course, that the news was GREAT … it was a perfect moment. The email was late, but for us anyway, it was well worth the wait.

For all of you who also got good news today, congratulations! I am so happy for you and I know how great it feels and how excited you all are. Enjoy it! It’s wonderful and a huge honor. Stay up on that cloud as long as you can.

For those of you who did not get the news you were hoping for, I am so sorry. I get kind of personally invested here, and I want all of you to get in. I know how much passion OCSA can ignite and how devastating it can feel when that much-anticipated email arrives and you see words like ‘Unfortunately’ and ‘Regrettably.’ Blah, blah, blah… I realize that what you are feeling is the exact opposite of elation. It can be really painful, and compounded when you have a child who is hurting too. But, like I said earlier, things do happen for a reason and my prediction is that in the not too distance future, you’ll look back at this time with understanding and will hopefully be glad that things worked out the way they did. {{{hugs to you all}}}

Finally, for those of you who were wait-list. Ugh. You’re just going to have to wait a little longer! But don’t give up. Last year, a lot of people from the wait list got called and got in, sometimes at the very last minute…but in all the same. Hang in there for now.

It’s been an eventful audition season with lots of ups and downs, at least for us. (My daughter who was seeking a transfer to VA didn’t make it to Round 2.) Thank you all for sharing it with me!

I’m a wreck. I keep checking my in-box for Audition Results but so far, nothing. (I am keeping my Gmail window open today!)  And in addition to being nervous that we won’t get the answer we are hoping for, I am slightly anxiety-ridden because I feel so unsure about when the results will actually be sent out. Since OCSA posted and retracted its update last Friday about changing the notification schedule, I’m confused and I don’t like it. It’s going to be a long day, that I hope and pray doesn’t turn into a long week. I found my email from last year and it was sent at about 1 p.m. on the first Monday in April, so as always, I remain hopeful! Please post if you hear anything!!

Well, folks…the delays and long(er) wait times continue…maybe. OCSA posted this update to its website on Friday (thanks for the heads-up Melissa!): “Update 3/29: Admission notifications will be sent out the second week of April, after our spring break.” However, for the life of me, I cannot find that update today. I swear it was there. I saw it! Today however, every place on the website that relates to ‘Admission Notifications’ still says they will be sent out the first week of April 2013.

So, I don’t know what to tell you. I was going to try to update you on the new schedule since I know we all are anticipating an email tomorrow and will be obsessively watching our in-boxes. But now I am not sure. Did OCSA change its mind about delaying the notifications? Was the update posted in error? Will we find out this week? Tune in tomorrow…

(f you saw the update, or know whether or not it’s still posted and I am just blinded by too many chocolate Easter eggs this morning, please let us know! )

This is the time of year when OCSA has the power to make or break. Hope and excitement run high. It’s application season! Many have attended a Preview Day and have gloriously absorbed the promise of OCSA. There’s a swell of energy. A feeling of overwhelming motivation to do what it takes to get in. To be one of the lucky ones.

Ultimately though, fewer get in than don’t. When the acceptance number hovers around 400 or so per year, and the number of applicants is now in the 4,000 range per year? Well, you can do the math. So invariably there are a lot of disappointed kids and parents too. Usually though, this ‘season of disappointment’ for those who aren’t accepted comes around the first of April and for the most part probably begins to diminish soon after.

This year however, it seems like the agony for some has come sooner, and been drawn out way too long for others. With the introduction of the two-round audition process, not only were many kids’ hopes dashed early in the process, there are some who are still waiting and wondering nearly two months after their applications were due if they will be going on to Round 2. With the acceptance letters slated to go out in less than three weeks and some families still having heard nothing or placed in a perpetual “Round 1 Audition Under Review” status, I sense a sinking feeling setting in for those left in ‘no-man’s land.’

All I can say is, “I am sorry!” And, “OCSA, this so unlike you!” In my four years and eight auditions between two kids, this is the first time the audition process has felt so disorganized and, dare I say, mismanaged? Besides slow or non-existent communication, strange things have occurred like M&T auditions without live performances (interviews only), next-day audition notices, and no notices after two months of waiting. Maybe the 2-Round audition is a good idea (although, I am not convinced) but the logistics threw OCSA off its game? The casualties though seem to be some of the kids and us parents who wear our hearts on our sleeves.

The flip side of course is….all those OCSA hopefuls who did secure one or more auditions. While the competition is fierce, these kids are still in the running and are as excited, eager and anxious as they should be. And, the countdown is on! Very soon acceptance notices will be sent out and then…elation for some, disappointment for the others who will have to decide whether or not they will do it all again next year! I kind of hope they will as I am an optimist and want to believe that the whole audition process will be better and smoother then. You know, like the old OCSA.

Good luck everybody!!

Of course, OCSA was front and center in this article touting the popularity and growth of charter schools in Orange County. Did you see it? Here are some of the highlights that relate to OCSA. You can read the full article here:

By SCOTT MARTINDALE / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Photo Credit: PAUL RODRIGUEZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

“The Orange County School of the Arts in Santa Ana is consistently ranked one of Orange County’s top 10 public high schools and regularly garners state and national recognition.”

“While all 13 county charter schools are finding success at their own level, Orange County’s best-known arts school, the Orange County School of the Arts in Santa Ana, was named one of the top 10 charter schools in California last year in a USC study and clinched the No. 7 spot last year in the Register’s rankings of the county’s best public high schools.”

“The Orange County School of the Arts, famed for its mandatory after-school arts conservatories, added a 12th conservatory to its line-up this year – culinary arts – and next year plans to add a digital-media conservatory, focusing on Web and game development. The additional conservatories will allow the school to add dozens more students.”

“Orange County School of the Arts parent Kristi Kirsch of Newport Beach, whose daughter Emily is a senior, said her family chose the Santa Ana arts school because no other public or private school coupled high academic achievement with renowned arts programs.”

“We wanted a school that could foster both her education and her talent,” said Kirsch, whose daughter belongs to the school’s music conservatory.”

“Kirsch said her family made some sacrifices, including a daily commute of one to two hours to and from their Corona del Mar home, and donates about $4,000 annually to support the school’s music department.”

“The way we see it, art in most other schools has been eliminated or cut drastically because of budget cuts,” she said. “Also, if our daughter was in cheerleading or in a sport at a traditional school, we would be paying as much or more.”

“Charter schools say they’re taking advantage of that parental investment to drive success.”