Hmmmm.
Art is something driven by passion, as pointed out by several
forumites. In fact, it's something that 99% of everyone here agrees
on. Hence, the mere ability to perform well in an art form, be it
painting or dancing, is not sufficient.
Perhaps the idea of an arts school for our young teenagers isn't
exactly a very good way to cultivate artistic abilities. Since art
relies on passion to survive, in my opinion, it is not very wise to
make the arts a focus in a young student's life. Passion involves a
person's emotions. When a child is growing up, at the same time,
the way he or she thinks is also developing. How can you be sure
that by the time the child hits 20 years old, he or she will still
have the same passion for the arts, needed in order to bring out
quality in the arts? Along the path of growing up, they will face
several instances that may change their point of view regarding
their future career at any time. What if one day the child grows up
and decides that "Hey, I love music! But I can't take the stress if
I can't earn enough to satisfy my desires. I shall head for a
career in finance instead!" Wouldn't that be a leakage of an
artist, who has undergone valuable training in the arts, to other
sectors?
Perhaps we should not be aiming at grooming the youngsters to
become world-class artists, or at the very least, good artists who
will make valuable contributions to the arts scene.
How about a normal academic school, where there is a greater
emphasis on the arts than any other schools in Singapore
instead?
The system of the school could be as such:
- admit students based on a test, such as the SAT (as I've
mentioned earlier), of which they have to obtain a minimum
score
- hold master classes and invite renowned tutors
- affiliate the Arts school and other higher arts institution of
learning, such as La Salle, so that students from the Arts school
stand a better chance of entry to the higher learning institutions
despite not having excellent grades which might put them at a
disadvantage when compared to normal students attending the usual
schools.
I think affiliation might be a good idea, since it can help to
minimize the pressure on the arts students, instead of making them
focus alot more on their academic studies than artistic
learning.
And it's also quite reasonable to subject students to expulsion if
they do not meet a minimum required grade for exams in the school.
After all, they should be trained to become well-rounded
individuals instead of becoming only skilled in a certain
area.
The above... just my fifty cents worth 
It's entirely open to criticism and ahem praise.
Just kidding
I think we should have a discussion on what kinds of academic
subjects should be offered, and how they should be taught. I can't
really figure that out. And the fees - $500 a month - is too high.
It amounts up to $6000 a year! More expensive than poly I think.
