“If your child is passionate about the arts and wants both a strong college-preparatory academic education and an excellent arts education, you should definitely consider The Academy.”
Johnny Rabe transferred to The Academy before his sophomore year looking for a school where students were as passionate about Musical Theatre as he is. Three years later, Johnny will be attending Stanford University to double major in Theatre and International Relations and minor in Music! Johnny’s mother Lilah reflected about their family’s time at The Academy.
“At the school that Johnny attended as a freshman, he found it difficult to find a social group because all of the groups were formed around extracurricular sports activities. There was no social group for a boy whose passion was Musical Theatre. At The Academy, Johnny immediately felt at home. He’s loved being in a community where he can be himself. He doesn't have to pretend to be someone that he isn’t. He doesn’t have to act when he is not on stage. He has also greatly appreciated his teachers all of his teachers and the care each of them has shown to him as an individual.
Lilah’s favorite Academy experience was watching Johnny in the lead role “Charley Kringas” alongside the rest of the Academy Musical Theatre Department in last fall’s production of "Merrily We Roll Along" (for which Johnny was just nominated for "Best Actor" by the Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards!). But what she really appreciated was the unique co-curricular focus of the school.
“One of the unique aspects of The Academy was the ability for Johnny to take a full load of college-preparatory academic classes and to also pursue all of his artistic interests (acting, voice, dance, and piano) with professional teachers, all in one place. In addition, he was able to integrate his academic and artistic interests — reading Shakespeare’s works in English class and performing them in his Theatre class.”
We’re going to miss Johnny and his family! We can’t wait to see what he accomplishes at Stanford.