Program Description:

The Theater School at North Coast Repertory Theatre offers classes, productions, and summer camps to approximately 2,000 North County students, ages 4-19, annually. 100% of the requested $15,000 went towards their Theatre School Scholarship program, which waives the cost of class/camp tuition and production fees for students coming from marginalized backgrounds. The scholarships provide access to arts education that is not provided due to budgetary restraints in public schools or financial barriers at home. The initial goal for the project was to serve at least 25 students with the program, assuming an average scholarship cost of $200.

Results:

This past year, mainly due to the grant received from the RSF Women’s Fund, NCRT was able to grow their scholarship program to the largest it has ever been. They awarded $30,737.75 in scholarships to 131 deserving students. Recipients were able to take advantage of any of the classes, camps, and productions that North Coast Theatre School offered. As an offshoot of their scholarship program, they also offer heavily discounted tickets to both Theatre School and Mainstage productions. This past year, they provided $18,351.75 in discounted tickets to 693 students across both Mainstage and Theatre School productions.

NCRT partners with several local organizations to increase the reach of their scholarship program, including Casa de Amistad, Bilingual Specialists at Solana Beach Public School District, and TERI, to name a few.

Based on feedback from the community liaison at the Solana Beach School District, the theater classes and camps at The North Coast Repertory Theatre have positively impacted the academic performance and the social skills of those students who have benefitted from a scholarship. Academically, parents have noticed improvements in English language skills and increased memorization, focus, and confidence. Socially, the students are more outgoing and confident when interacting with people after their participation in the camps.