High School of Performing Arts

The High School of Performing Arts
The school building in October 2013, now occupied by the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School for International Careers
Address
Map
120 West 46th Street

,
United States
Coordinates40°45′27.7″N 73°59′00″W / 40.757694°N 73.98333°W / 40.757694; -73.98333
Information
TypePublic Alternative High school
Established1947
FounderFranklin J. Keller
Statusclosed
Closed1984
CampusUrban
Merged withHigh School of Music & Art
To formFiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Arts
Websitewww.highschoolofperformingartsalumni.com

The High School of Performing Arts (informally known as "PA") was a public alternative high school established in 1947 and located at 120 West 46th Street in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, from 1948 to 1984.

In 1961, the school was merged with another alternative arts school, the High School of Music & Art, while each retained its own campus. Plans for establishing a joint building for the merged schools took many years to be realized. There was opposition to the loss of PA's individual identity, but both student bodies eventually moved into a shared building in 1984, christened the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School.

Many well-known performers were trained at the school, such as Eartha Kitt, Liza Minnelli, Jennifer Aniston, Ving Rhames, Lorraine Toussaint, and Suzanne Vega.

The 1980 film Fame was set in the High School of Performing Arts, though the building was not used in filming.