Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

North Las Vegas charter school’s music program is ready to rock

Rock Academy of the Performing Arts at Delta Academy

Wade Vandervort

Wyatt Coday, 15, plays drums during a Rock Academy of the Performing Arts rehearsal at Delta Academy in North Las Vegas Thursday, July 29, 2021.

Rock Academy of the Performing Arts at Delta Academy

Aaron Carlson, 17, plays bass guitar during a Rock Academy of the Performing Arts rehearsal at Delta Academy in North Las Vegas Thursday, July 29, 2021. Launch slideshow »

Wyatt Coday enrolled in The Delta Academy to be a rock star.

The Delta Academy, a North Las Vegas charter school, is debuting its Rock Academy for the Performing Arts this year, adding to the region’s high school music conservatories.

Some of the students are seasoned musicians. Others had never opened a guitar case until this week. All jumped in feet-first, with a two-day intensive before a concert where they played Led Zeppelin, Michael Jackson, Billie Eilish and more. 

Coday, 15, hasn’t been onstage before, but he’s played the drums for about five years. He said he banged on enough buckets until his mom got him a drum kit when he was 10. 

The first song he learned was “Seven Nation Army’’ by The White Stripes. That’s the song he rehearsed Thursday in preparation for RAPA’s first show, with his Jay Weinberg signature sticks.

His influences trend heavy — Weinberg and Joey Jordison of Slipknot, Chris Adler of Lamb of God. His reasons are zen, as music declutters his mind and helps him focus. The incoming sophomore transferred from Shadow Ridge High School just for this opportunity to concentrate on music.

Delta superintendent Kyle Konold said the school first had the idea to assemble a drumline that could perform at parades. It grew from there to something with even more dimension. 

“Music ignites the soul,” he said. “It’s a way to create a community within the school. When you have a program that everyone can be proud of, it brings everyone together.”

RAPA (pronounced “rap-puh”), Delta’s first music program, took shape at the school last winter, though for director of performing arts Jay Caballero, it had been brewing since 2018.

Caballero, a veteran teacher who also plays piano, was working in the Clark County School District head office and considering launching an independent music-focused charter school with his fellow educator, RAPA’s chief marketing officer Alfred Thornton. They had the idea to teach popular music to all experience levels and to make it financially accessible.

Caballero said RAPA’s mission isn’t a knock on Vegas’ longer-established high school conservatories, Del Sol High School in central Las Vegas and downtown’s Las Vegas Academy of the Arts. Two of his own children attended Las Vegas Academy, which has been a conservatory for almost 30 years.

But he knew talented students would be drawn to rock, pop, country, jazz, soul, electronica and hip-hop. 

“The kids are gonna be coming in with that interest,” he said.

RAPA’s current “majors” are voice and instrumentals. In the near future, Delta will seek approval from CCSD, which sponsors Delta’s charter, to build a proper, soundproof rehearsal space. As the program grows, teachers envision adding courses in musical theater and technical trades. They also plan to add that drumline.

When not teaching at RAPA, Paul Shihadeh is the bassist and assistant music director for Cirque du Soleil’s “O” show at the Bellagio. He said he was pleasantly surprised at how open-minded and collaborative his new students are. He’s keen to get them onstage.

“It’s something that everyone should experience to get the passion of music,” he said.

James Steuber, 15, wanted the rush. The beginning guitarist took up the instrument during the pandemic lockdown. To kick off his sophomore year, he would be onstage with his peers playing AC/DC.

“I’m excited,” he said before heading into an English classroom, its desks pushed against the walls, to rehearse “Highway to Hell.” “I’m pumped and I feel ready.”