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Cypress Lake High School is a secondary school located in Fort Myers, Lee County, Florida. Cypress Lake High School is a high school in the South Zone specializing in five arts programs: Media Arts, Music, Dance, Theater, and Visual Arts.
Cypress Lake High School used to be a separate school from Cypress Lake Center for the Arts. The two schools had separate principals at one time. Students from the art school would, however, walk to the regular high school to take academic classes. This is why the school district decided to merge the schools together.
Recently the school has undergone several renovations to improve its appearance. In August 2007 it was announced that MTV's Made was holding auditions for the students. On September 11, 2007 the auditions were held in the school's auditorium.
Cypress Lake high School's "Center for the Arts" program is notable for producing finalist contestants on U.S televisions top singing and dance programs. For example, Vonzell Solomon from American Idol and Marquis Cunningham from So You Think You Can Dance.
Cypress Lake has AP programs, foreign language classes (including French, Spanish, German, and Latin), and a large ESOL program. The students excel in academics. The school always receives a top score in the Florida grading system, usually in the top 5 for Lee County (FL) High Schools.
Center for the Arts
Being the first of four art schools in the county, Cypress Lake prides itself on the Center. Cypress Lake High School's secondary campus, exclusively for students majoring or minoring in one of the arts programs, is located North of the main campus and consists of five distinct departments.
Media Arts: The Media Department specializes in television production and digital editing. The department's video editing technique is non-linear, using Adobe Premiere and Apple's Final Cut Pro software. The department has a full-sized television studio, with three cameras and a fully-functional control room, as well as a full computer lab with top-end desktops.
Music: The Music Department has music theory programs as well as band, choral, and orchestral ensembles. The music department is known for its superior performances and in 2003 the Camerata Orchestra was invited to National Orchestra Festival. The a cappella choir also received national recognition.
Dance: Deals with the art of synchronizing the body with music, Cypress' Dance Department teaches Ballet, Choreography, Dance Tech, and Repertory. There are two large dance floors and instructors. Shows are put on in Cypress' Auditorium.
Theatre: The Theatre Department has performed renditions of "The Immigrant", "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying", "Joseph and the Amazing Technocolored Dreamcoat", "Twelfth Night", "All Shook Up", "The Imaginary Invalid", "The Rimers of Eldritch", "As Bees in Honey Drown" and other famous works. The Department holds an modular theater (nicknamed the "Black Box" for its appearance) and an outdoor amphitheater.
Visual Arts: The Visual Arts teaches the crafts of Drawing, Painting, Pottery, Computer Graphics, Digital Art, Photography and a variety of other mediums. The department has a dark room to develop pictures, and computers for digital art and research. Every year they hold various art shows and at the end of the year a Senior Art show featuring the artwork of the graduating class.
Famous alumni
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