The Academy of the Arts

Started in 2003 under the name “North Atlanta School of the Arts (NASOTA)”, the Academy of the Arts is the oldest Academy at NCCS. Upper school students who successfully pass an audition specifically designed for their proposed arts major will be invited to become a part of the Academy. Providing students academic core classes with intensive training in their chosen art field has allowed students to expand and enhance their talents and gifts in ways typically not offered at the upper school level. We believe each student has unique gifts and abilities endowed by God and we welcome the opportunity, and consider it a blessing, to help students explore, expand and enjoy the calling of God on their lives.

The current major courses of study offered through the Academy are vocal performance, theatre arts, and visual arts. The audition criteria for each major is included in the materials packet given to students who show interest in the Academy program.

Matthew Hendrix

Director of The Academy of the Arts:
Mr. Matthew Lynn Hendrix, Director of the Arts

Director's Bio

Matthew graduated in 2001 from Erskine College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Christian Education and a Bachelor of Arts degree in French. He is a member of the Rho Psi chapter of Alpha Psi Omega, the National Honorary Theatre Society. He holds an ACSI Teaching Certification.

During his ten years at NCCS, Matthew has led the theatre program to three first place finishes in the GISA One-Act Play Competition in addition to one State Championship. In 2006, Matthew was named Director of the Year in the Georgia Independent School Association Region 3AAA. In 2010, NCCS' production of "SEUSSICAL: The Musical" won its first Shuler Hensley Award under his direction. Prior to joining the staff at North Cobb Christian School, Matthew was the High Adventure Coordinator at Camp Buc, in Sapphire, NC. Here at NCCS, he teaches Academy Acting Classes, Upper School Theatre Classes, and Technical Theatre. As an actor himself, Matthew has also won multiple awards and nominations for both lead and supporting roles in the Atlanta area as well as in North and South Carolina.

Matthew and his wife have one daughter, who will be starting at NCCS in the 2012/13 school year. They attend Midway Presbyterian Church.

As Director of the Academy of the Arts, Matthew takes the lead in nurturing student's talents and helping a very gifted arts faculty prepare students to pursue a life in the Arts.

Courses of Study: 

Visual Arts Track
  Drawing  
Painting  
Art History
AP Studio Art 

Vocal Arts Track
Advanced Choral Ensemble 9
Advanced Choral Ensemble 10 
Advanced Choral Ensemble 11
Advanced Choral Ensemble 12
 Music Theory/Ear Training I
Music Theory/Ear Training II
Music Theory/Ear Training III
Music Theory/Ear Training IV

Theatre Arts Track  
Acting 9: Stanislavski's System  
Acting 10: Checkovian Acting  
Acting 11: The Meisner Method  
Acting 12: Practical Aesthetics