SOUTH HADLEY – After years of performing and rehearsing in cramped spaces, the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School opened a new theater on its South Hadley campus.
Head of School Scott Goldman said the PVPA waited decades for the state-of-the-art theater. In its first 10 years, the school was located in Hadley on Route 9. The school, at the time, leased several buildings.
One building was an old barn near Hopkins Academy, a central gathering and performance space for staff and students. The barn hosted the school’s arts and cultural activities. Though PVPA moved to a much larger and centralized location in South Hadley, the theater available barely held more than 170 patrons and performers.
“Between students and staff, we were around 460 people on any given day,” he said. “To say that we didn’t have the venue to showcase the work that we were doing here for the past decade in South Hadley is an understatement.”
He said PVPA dreamed of building a full-sized theater, a place to welcome and to nurture young talent. “We finally had that happen,” Goldman said. The theater opened in January. The school is putting “finishing touches” on the space.
Also, the school’s charter was renewed for another five years during the same period. The school enters its 21st year as a public charter school. Until recently, PVPA was the only public charter school to offer a complete arts and performance education in Massachusetts, he said.
“Given how the charter school landscape has changed, I’m not sure if there will be another one that does arts,” Goldman said.
He added, “We have this big responsibility to carry on in promoting the arts as a way to promote higher academic achievement as well as creativity. We’re finally poised, coming off this amazing fulfillment of a dream, to get our new space and to start our new, five-year charter period.”
The school has yet to name the theater. PVPA is in the midst of a capital campaign, which has raised over $200,000. The money was used to purchase lighting and other equipment for the theater.
Goldman said the school welcomes a generous individual or group donor who wishes to secure the naming rights. “We’re really hoping that happens over the next year,” he said.
The school’s enrollment stands at 400 for grades seven through 12.