Built in the 1960s, previously a middle school and closed for two years for renovations, the Arts Academy at Benjamin Rush opened its doors in 2008 and welcomed their first ninth grade students. Now, at the end of this academic year, Rush will say farewell to its first graduating class.

“These are the kids who helped start the school in so many different ways. We used them to help build the school. We made a lot of decisions together,” Principal Jessica Brown said.

Senior theater majors Tim Carlin and Rikki Harley offer their sentiments of their journey thus far through Rush. Carlin says he “always wanted to be different” and coming from a small Catholic school, he did not want follow his peers to a Catholic high school. Carlin says he was warmed up to the idea of being a pioneer of the school.

“I heard about an art school and I was like, ‘that would be really cool, that sounds just for me.’ I love the idea of all of us students taking part in building this school. Everyone that’s been here has made their mark,” Carlin said.

Harley had a different point of view.

“Knowing that we’re the first graduating class kind of threw me off at first because when we came here there weren’t any 10th graders, no 11th graders, no seniors. It was just us. It was weird. We’re like ‘we’re missing out on our high school experience,’ ” Harley said.

“We’re setting traditions and it’s a lot of pressure because you’re the first class.”

Being a peer mediator, engaging in student council, active in the yearbook club and helping freshman with monologues, both Harley and Carlin say their experiences at Rush have prepared them for life after high school.

“At Rush I feel the expectations are higher for us, in our grades and our behavior. I feel we’re held to a higher standard. Some things that happened at other high schools don’t happen at Rush. There’s a whole different environment and culture,” Harley said.

“One of the biggest things that I learned was personal responsibility. Nobody is forcing you to do the work. It’s on you. It’s on you to do the learning here. They provide the tools and you need to take it the next step,” Carlin said. 

Core values of imagination, communication, empathy, perspective, analysis and commitment, also known as, “ICEPAC”, according to Brown, frame the school’s curriculum. Using these values in their daily lives, Brown says students will have the ability to communicate these values through art and technology.

“The vision of the school is to integrate the arts into the curriculum. That’s a piece here,” Brown said.

Technology also plays a major role in school curriculum. Students have access to Mac laptops in the classrooms to do research and work on assignments. Teachers use smart boards, as well. However, not every classroom is equipped with technology. Brown is finding ways to fund raise and look for grant money that would finance her technology initiatives.

“It’s always a challenge with funding. We make it work by sharing and doing a lot of collaboration in the school. The school couldn’t exist without the collaboration of the teachers and students in order to meet the specific goals of the school,” Brown said.

“They work with each other in a way that I never seen done in a school. Where if they want ideas for a unit and they want to include the arts, my biology teacher will talk to my art teacher and they work together in planning. That’s what partially makes this school so successful.”

Along with collaborations of the faculty, Brown says she can see the passion teachers have about teaching in the way that they spend long hours at school. Their willingness to stay after and meet with students shows the flexibility and commitment to the students.

Teachers like Lorraine Ustaris are praised by the principal for her efforts in the classroom. Ustaris teaches English and uses multimedia in the classroom. Listening to a student voice recording of an “I believe” essay, helps freshman Shaina Barrett understand the assignment.

During Ingrid Shinskie’s physics class, junior vocal majors Melvin Berrian, Kisha Davis and Somemore Love work together in a group to solve mathematical equations in preparation of the “quest”—a combination of quiz and test.

“For me, I like comparing answers. You can see where you went wrong. I like collaboration,” Berrian said.

“We do example problems off the smart board, we work in the textbook and we’ll do laps. She’s show us in the back and we’ll come back to our seats and do it. So we visually see it and see it in the textbook. We also watch videos,” Davis said.

Outside of physics, Berrian, Davis and Love enjoy learning to sing Hebrew, Latin and Spanish in music class. Davis says she feels that Rush is preparing her for the next level.

“By coming here, I feel that it will better prepare me. I’m learning theory and my voice is improving more. I have a lot of things under my belt. We do classical pieces, we do jazz pieces and that will help me in the future when I go to college,” Davis said.

“Five, six, seven, eight.”

“Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.”

Denise Masters counts the tempo and the student dancers respond by taping their metal soles on the hard wood floor. At Rush, students have the opportunity to chose a focus in dance. Along with tap, Masters teaches jazz, ballet and modern forms of dancing.

As a representative of the PIAA District XII, Public League, Rush offers girls volleyball, boys and girls basketball, girls soccer, baseball and softball as apart of their athletic program. Students do have the option to join other sport teams as a part of a co-op with George Washington High School.

Even though the school has been opened for four years, Rush has created a learning environment and culture that has attracted a lot of attention. Each year, approximately 1,500 students apply, but only 150 students are selected to attend Rush. Despite small numbers of students, Brown accredits the school’s population as a special piece of the school.  

“[At] this school, I know almost every student’s name. At a big school, you just won’t get that,” Brown said.