SAN DIEGO -- 10News honors Kris McClung for founding the Coronado School of the Arts (CoSA). Kris founded the program in 1996 on the campus of Coronado High School and is currently the director. The CoSA was finalized after three years of hard work and planning by Kris, volunteers, and sponsors. This “school within a school” now offers enrichment programs in areas such as dance, instrumental music, musical theatre, drama, technical theatre, and visual arts.

After realizing the lack of programs offered in the arts, McClung decided to take action in creating a school for students interested in creative education. After planning and hard work, the school opened in September of 1996 with a student body of 60. As the director and a teacher at the CoSA, McClung contributes her talents in inspiring and teaching creative minds through a nontraditional form of education. Her efforts have not only inspired creative minds, but have also inspired the learning abilities of her students. Students at CoSA spend about 15 hours per week concentrating on a specific program in the creative arts. In addition to the rigorous arts education, this unique school has a traditional academic curriculum, including Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs. In the 2000-2001 school year, 60% of CoSA students earned a GPA of 3.0 or better, and 78% of the graduates were accepted at a four-year college or conservatory program.

Today, the CoSA boasts 133 students, given the opportunity by donors and grants that McClung and her colleagues have worked tirelessly to obtain. The program has gained such prestige and success that is has now opened its doors to high school students from throughout San Diego County. This opportunity that usually lacks in many public schools allows students who are geared towards creative arts to excel and to express themselves.

McClung has dedicated her life to teaching and the success of the Coronado School of the Arts. She spends 12 hour days, nights, and weekends teaching classes, putting on exhibits and performances, and meeting with perspective sponsors. While the CoSA has earned numerous academic accolades and has been recognized as a "Model Specialized Secondary Program" by the California Department of Education, McClung has been honored by the San Diego County Office of Education as an "Administrator of the Year." Recently, McClung was instrumental in offering spaces to displaced and relocated students from a similar school (NOCCA) in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Without McClung's unwavering dedication to the school, the Coronado School of the Arts would not be the success that it is today.

For more information about CoSA, please contact Coronado School of the Arts at (619) 522-8969 or visit Cosa.Coronado.K12.CA.US.