Kicking off the 2025-2026 school year, freshmen at Las Vegas Academy of the Arts share their thoughts and experiences over the last few weeks.
Freshman secretary and art major Noa Hancock addresses LVA’s academics, saying, “I learned about LVA through my dad, who went here for his high school years, and as an artist like he was, I was really inspired by a campus that does such amazing art. It’s work mixed with your major, but it’s also been really fun. There’s so many opportunities that you can take at the school.”
LVA offers four conservatory programs: Theatre, Visual & Media Arts, Dance, and Music, each dedicated to providing students with the technical knowledge for their respective industries.
Tech theatre major, Ziggy Laubach, recounts their first impressions of LVA, saying, “I was expecting it to be like High School Musical. It’s more like Zootopia, because this is a place where you can be anything and everything, exactly like Zootopia. It was very scary, and I got lost on the first day, and [I thought] I wasn’t gonna make friends. It feels very unreal because there’s so many people here…I feel more at home here than I have at any other school.”
The LVA campus spans more than 25 acres of downtown Las Vegas land, with 3 registered historic buildings: the main academic building, the gymnasium, and Frazier Hall. Additionally, LVA’s student body has an estimated population of 1,700 students.
Freshman film major, Kit Stevenson, expresses their surprise at the size of the student body, saying, “I expected it to be kind of crazy and really packed, but I didn’t expect it to be this big of a group. There’s so many people. I’m not used to that many people, but I’m enjoying it a lot. I like it here.”
The works of LVA’s 2D and 3D visual design majors are displayed in the Bryan Lewis and Lowden Theater galleries. Noa Hancock discusses her future aspirations, saying, “Selling a couple pieces at shows is my biggest hope.”
Kit Stevenson discusses their future aspirations, saying, “I’m hoping to have finished a couple films, since I’m a film major. I’m hoping to have enough experience to go ahead and get started in the film industry while in college, and do a film degree so I can become a director.”
Film-passionate LVA students like Kit have gone on to make a name for themselves in the industry, with notable alumni being actress and filmmaker Julia Marchese and filmmaker and co-founder of Desert Cactus Films, Danny Chandia.
Ziggy Laubach discusses their future aspirations, saying, “I really want to be a marine biologist, but if I’m not that, I want to be a therapist. I really like helping people with their emotions.”
Though LVA is an art school, LVA students interested in other career paths, like Ziggy, are not limited to the arts. LVA alumni have attended colleges of arts and sciences, including CalArts, Cornell University, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and The Juilliard School.
Overall, the freshmen class of 2029 has made a home for themselves on LVA’s campus, aspiring to great things, and taking advantage of the opportunities the school offers. Though entering your first year of high school can be nerve-racking, the freshmen at LVA have and will continue to create memories that will follow them into graduation.
