Professional Children's School Explained

Professional Children's School (PCS) is a not-for-profit, college preparatory school geared toward working and aspiring child actors and dancers in grades six through twelve.^[1] The school was founded in New York City in 1914 to provide an academic education to young people working on the New York stage, in Vaudeville, or "on the road".^[2]

PCS was co-founded by Jean Greer and Jane Harris Hall when they learned that children who were working in entertainment were not able to attend traditional school. The school's original premises were at The Rehearsal Club on West 45th Street in Midtown before it moved to 1860 Broadway, near West 61st Street on the Upper West Side. Its curriculum and hours have changed over time.^{[3] [4]}

Distinguished alumni

Dance

• Jerry Ames^[5]
• Jared Angle^[5]
• Tyler Angle^[5]
• Alexandra Ansanelli^[5]
• Merrill Ashley^[5]
• Debra Austin^[5]
• Peter Boal^[5]
• Ruthanna Boris^[6]
• Ashley Bouder^[5]
• Leslie Browne^[5]
• Fernando Bujones^[5]
• Daniel Duell^[5]
• Megan Fairchild^[5]
• Robert Fairchild^[5]
• Suzanne Farrell^[5]
• Eliot Feld^[5]
• Savion Glover^[5]
• Susan Hendl^[5]
• Adam Hendrickson^[5]
• Darla Hoover^[5]
• Sterling Hyltin^[5]
• Allegra Kent^[5]
• Gelsey Kirkland^[5]
• Darci Kistler^[5]
• Maria Kowroski^[5]
• Carla Körbes^[5]
• Rebecca Krohn^[5]
• Lourdes Lopez^[5]
• Savannah Lowery^[5]
• Nilas Martins^[5]
• Steven Melendez^[5]
• Colleen Neary^[5]
• Kyra Nichols^[5]
• Tiler Peck^[5]
• Susan Pilarre^[5]
• Rachel Piskin^[7]
• Teresa Reichlen^[5]
• Nancy Reynolds^[5]
• Carrie Lee Riggins^[5]
• Jenifer Ringer^[5]
• John Selya^[5]
• Jennie Somogyi^[5]
• Ethan Stiefel^[5]
• Marianna Tcherkassky^[5]
• Ashley Tuttle^[5]
• Sheryl Ware^[5]
• Heather Watts^[5]
• Wendy Whelan^[5]
• Deborah Wingert^[5]

Music

• Loni Ackerman^[5]
• Anastacia^[5]
• Jack Antonoff^[5]
• Emanuel Ax^[5]
• Jessie Baylin^[5]
• Vanessa Carlton^[5]
• Kyung Wha Chung^[5]
• Dana Dawson^[5]
• Peng-Peng Gong^[8]
• Andreas Haefliger^[5]
• Marvin Hamlisch^[5]
• Lorin Hollander^[5]
• Caroline Jones^[9]
• Ida Kavafian^[5]
• Cho-Liang Lin^[5]
• Frankie Lymon^[5]
• Yo-Yo Ma^[5]
• Jack Metzger^[5]
• Midori Gotō^[5]
• Buddy Rich^[5]
• Beverly Sills^{[5] [10]}
• Arlene Smith^[5]
• Martha Strongin Katz^[5]
• Conrad Tao
• Pinchas Zukerman^[5]

Theater, film, and television

• Brooke Adams^[5]
• Trini Alvarado^[5]
• Adam Arkin^[5]
• Alex Paez^[5]
• Essence Atkins^[5]
• Kaye Ballard^[5]
• Mischa Barton^[11]
• Bonnie Bedelia^[5]
• Milton Berle^[5]
• Zina Bethune^[5]
• Nadia Bjorlin^[5]
• Tempestt Bledsoe^[5]
• Joan Blondell^[5]
• Ann Blyth^[5]
• Laura Bell Bundy^[5]
• Eddie Bracken^[5]
• Irene Cara^[5]
• Phoebe Cates^[5]
• Helen Chandler^[12]
• Miles Chapin^[5]
• Kathleen Cody^[5]
• Holly Marie Combs^[5]
• Kieran Culkin^[5]
• Macaulay Culkin^[5]
• Rory Culkin^[5]
• Charlotte d'Amboise^[5]
• Alexandra Daddario^[5]
• Sandra Dee^[5]
• Brandon deWilde^[5]
• Barrett Doss^{[13] [5]}
• Giancarlo Esposito^[5]
• Donald Faison^[5]
• Carrie Fisher^[5]
• Anne Francis^[5]
• Rebecca Gayheart^[5]
• Helen Gallagher^[5]
• Sarah Michelle Gellar
• Elliott Gould^[5]
• Todd Graff^[5]
• Karron Graves^[5]
• Lukas Haas^[5]
• Albert Hackett^[5]
• Anthony Michael Hall^[5]
• Huntz Hall^[5]
• Patti Hansen^[5]
• Melissa Joan Hart^[5]
• Amy Irving^[5]
• Scarlett Johansson^{[5] [14] [15]}
• Brad Caleb Kane^[5]
• Carol Kane^[5]
• Ruby Keeler^[5]
• Jean Louisa Kelly^[5]
• Patsy Kelly^[5]
• Jane Krakowski^[5]
• Ricki Lake^[5]
• Diane Lane^[5]
• Jennifer Lien^[16]
• Peggy Lipton^[5]
• Lorna Luft^[5]
• Sidney Lumet^[5]
• Ida Lupino^[5]
• Helen Mack^[5]
• Jena Malone^[5]
• Nancy Malone^[5]
• Daniel Mann^[5]
• Patty McCormack^[5]
• Leighton Meester^[5]
• Lisa Mordente^[5]
• Rita Moreno^[5]
• Phyllis Newman^[5]
• Jerry O'Connell^[5]
• Donald O'Connor^[5]
• Jennifer O'Neill^[5]
• Sarah Jessica Parker^[5]
• Martha Plimpton^[5]
• Laura Prepon^[5]
• Martha Raye^[5]
• Tara Reid^[5]
• Rosemary Rice^[5]
• Christina Ricci^[5]
• Eden Riegel^[5]
• Tanya Rivero^[5]
• Christy Carlson Romano^[5]
• Rose Marie^[5]
• Sara Rue^[5]
• Michael Rupert^[5]
• Rebecca Schaeffer^[17]
• Aaron Schwartz^[5]
• Shim Eun-kyung^[5]
• Jonathan Silverman^[5]
• Penny Singleton^[5]
• Christian Slater^[5]
• John Spencer^[5]
• Julia Stiles^[5]
• Susan Strasberg^[5]
• Eddie Kaye Thomas^[6]
• Uma Thurman^[5]
• Rachel Ticotin^[5]
• Ashley Tisdale^[5]
• Janine Turner^[5]
• Leslie Uggams^[5]
• Dick Van Patten^[5]
• Joyce Van Patten^[5]
• Christopher Walken^[5]
• Nancy Walker^[5]
• Malcolm-Jamal Warner^[5]
• Lesley Ann Warren^[5]
• Tuesday Weld^[5]
• Nat Wolff^[5]
• Lee Thompson Young^[5]

• Jordana Brewster^[5]

Sports

• Kristie Ahn^[5]
• Carol Heiss^[5]
• Reed Kessler^[5]
• Sonya Klopfer^[5]
• Yvonne Sherman^[5]
• Ashima Shiraishi^[18]
• Josh Waitzkin^[5]

Literature

• Michael McGarrity^[19]
• Linn Ullmann

Fashion

• Rachel Antonoff^[19]
• Claudia Mason^[19]
• Vera Wang

See also

• Professional Performing Arts School
• Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts

External links

• Official site

Notes and References

1. Web site: Professional Children's School : Academics : Schoolwide Resources : Welcome. www.pcs-nyc.org. en. 2017-04-12.
2. Web site: Professional Children's School : About Us : History I. www.pcs-nyc.org....... en. 2017-04-12.
3. Book: Anderson, Arthur . An Actor's Odyssey: From Orson Welles to Lucky the Leprechaun . 2010-02-03 . BearManor Media . 978-1-59393-522-1 . 20–23 . en.
4. Book: Gollin, James . Pianist: A Biography of Eugene Istomin . 2010 . Xlibris Corporation . 978-1-4535-2235-6 . 25 . en.
5. Web site: Distinguished Alumni Professional Children's School. Professional Children's School. January 5, 2019. January 5, 2019. mdy-all.
6. Web site: DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI . Professional Children's School . September 14, 2014 . March 23, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180323171251/http://www.pcs-nyc.org/page.cfm?page=1302 . dead .
7. News: Delatiner . Barbara . A Pas de Deux of Youth and Dance . 4 August 2021 . The New York Times . April 30, 2006.
8. Web site: From the Top at Carnegie Hall . Peng-Peng Gong - PBS. www.pbs.org.
9. Web site: Caroline Jones's Unusual Journey to Country Music Stardom . The Wall Street Journal . July 6, 2018 .
10. Tommasini, Anthony. "Beverly Sills, All-American Diva With Brooklyn Roots, Is Dead at 78". The New York Times. July 4, 2007. "But her father put an end to her child-star career when she was 12 so that she could concentrate on her education at Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn and the Professional Children's School in Manhattan."
11. Web site: Mischa Barton: Biography. Hellomagazine.com. us.hellomagazine.com.
12. Haskin, Frederic J. (March 22, 1920). "School in Church for Stage Folk; Children of New York Stage and Studio Are Trained at Parents' Expense". Asbury Park Press. p. 4. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
13. Web site: Marcia . Biography . barrett-doss.net. November 14, 2018 .
14. http://www.biography.com/people/scarlett-johansson-13671719 "Scarlett Johansson Biography"
15. https://tv.yahoo.com/scarlett-johansson/contributor/29532/bio "Scarlett Johansson"
16. Giordana. Lucille. 1992. Growing Up Is Great. Daytime TV. 23. 4. 39.
17. News: Murder suspect seems determined as victim. Braun. Stephen. Jones, Charrise . July 24, 1989. Eugene Register-Guard. 5A. June 10, 2013.
18. Web site: Ashima Shiraishi: A Strong Mind. YouTube. 4 December 2016. 30 November 2016.
19. Web site: Professional Children's School : Alumni : Distinguished Alumni. pcs-nyc.org. 2016-01-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20160128123524/http://pcs-nyc.org/page.cfm?page=1302. January 28, 2016. dead. mdy-all.