The TAPCo Times Issue #1

As of late August 2025, Construction is finally underway for the new CTE Studio for TAPCo’s Film and Technical Department. But what is there to be expected for the future of Film Production at TapCo from here on out?

About 8 years ago, the project came into light with Former Principal Ron Link and Steven Mudrick. It was delayed from then on until this August, where - after some phone calls - it finally began construction.

What’s the idea for next year’s curriculum and activities? Harry Mavromichalis, a Cinematographer and CTE teacher at TAPCo says: “There will be 2 sections: a classroom and a studio. And additionally, there will be a podcast studio. We want to be able to teach students how professional companies operate, and so we wanted the film studio to sort of duplicate how they do things in real life.” The studio is meant to replicate real news studios and/or professional news setups, to realistically demonstrate what/how they do things.

They had to demolish two classrooms to build the future studio. Due to this, they had to move to room 516 in the MS 391 lunch room. Below are some examples of the studio layout.

Many would say this was a necessary addition for the film department. James, A Senior CTE  student, had this to say: “It’s promising. It has the potential to be a very fruitful endeavor.”

The deadline for high school students' applications is December 3. As one can see, people have a lot of time to apply to their high school of choice and everyone looks at what this school can offer. People are going to ask, “What does this school have that I want? Why does this school pique my interest?”

There could be many reasons on why you would want to go to a school but the real question is why do students pick TAPCo out of any other school? What can this school have and offer that any other school could not? 

Interviews with staff showed that TAPCo has a lot of arts that other schools do not.  

Ms. Delpech, AP of Arts and Admissions, said, “This school has a lot to offers: four arts and others often only be offering one of those.” she continued to say, “four arts are dancing, theater, visual arts, vocal music, film and produce,” showing that there is a lot to do in this school compared to other schools.

There is also recruitment that happens every so often where staff from TAPCo go to other schools and other places to get more people for the school. At these places, they show off the school's features, answer questions and more. 

Ms. Skidelsky said about the prowess of recruitment that “We emailed about 300 guidance counselors, principals and arts teachers to ask when they were hosting high school fairs and if we could attend. We also brought gift baskets to the guidance counselors when we went to visit schools” 

Some high school fairs that they have attended this year include M.S 363, M.S 129, & Kappa, I.S135, I.S 117 J.H.S118 also PS/MS 20 George J., Werdann Highbridge Green School.

In addition to going to fairs, TAPCo also hosts open houses. TAPCo brought middle school students and elementary students to the school and showed them around TAPCo because it’s not only middle school but high school too. So they brought them to show them what we have to offer plus the different classrooms. the different arts to see if they were interested in the school to join and they seemed excited.

During school lunch, students at TAPCo have the opportunity to play outside. The question is, are there enough outside activities available for students at TAPCo?

The activities currently available for students include volleyball and basketball. Many students report that, after a while, these activities can become boring and they want a bigger variety of games.

Some students suggested that we can add more activities like tennis and other exercise activities. An upperclassmen suggested, “They could bring a group of people and like run around the block for exercise”

Another student gave an idea to add painting. They said, “They [the school] could section off a corner and put padding down so people can paint,” said another upperclassman.

Mr Shaudt, The school principal, said “We are an arts school; it makes sense but would require added support staff to monitor the area.  Support staff is something we are short”

Additionally, beyond the activities, students have suggested that the school could purchase tents or install roofs so that people can have more shade to go under.

Here at TAPCo, there are different teachers and different subjects, but this month we are doing a spotlight on the dance teacher, Ms. Deane. Let’s take a look at an interview with Ms. Deane, and students and teachers that know her best.

After her time at  New Rochelle High School, she would return to work with kids when she choreographed a musical. After High School, she went to college and then worked full time as a Pilates instructor. She added that “it is always a bit hard to find the sweet sort between work life balance.”

Ms. Deane plays an important role as a teacher, where she loves to teach contemporary dance with a focus on anatomy and connectivity patterns. The school includes dance concerts that she always enjoys because of the time she shares with friends and families of the school. Although she loves to do the shows, it can be a big time commitment. She added, “It is a lot of work, but great to see all the hard work of our students pay off.”

Mr. Lugo, also a dance teacher at TAPCo, shares the special bond they have with each other as they work together as a team to make sure everything runs smoothly. Although they have different strengths, they have the same passion for dance. As they work together through the years, their bond and dances gets stronger and better.

Sophomore Michelle, a dancer in Ms. Deane’s class every day in 3rd period, described the class as a space where she’s “able to express” herself  through dance and not just learn dances but gives opportunities to students to create them. She added, “she took a step aside for Hispanic Heritage Month, she made people from Hispanic culture choreograph  the dance to create  what they know.” Students acknowledge what Deane does for her students.

At TAPCo High School, our students have the opportunity to choose a form of art to major in. There are six majors in total: Theater, Instrumental Music, Choir, Visual Art, CTE, and Dance. Instrumental music has the most majors across the school, with 50 students - tying with Theater To bring a spotlight to some of the versatile majors, we’re here to give you a preview of one of the most practiced majors here at TAPCo: Instrumental Music.

For starters, there are many different roles in the Instrumental Music major, such as guitar, electric guitar, electric bass, piano, trumpet, drums, violin, viola, and many other instruments. This gives our students a variety of opportunities and choices in what to play and learn. Many students choose different instruments, adding to the diversity of the program.

Most importantly, our Instrumental Music teacher, Mr. Lijoi, is teaching all four grades this year. He has played trumpet since 

1992, has been singing since 1998, and has played piano, guitar, and all brass instruments since 2002. He started playing electric bass in 2014, but also teaches woodwind and string instruments.

One of our students, Kanix, a 12th-grade Instrumental Music major, takes full advantage of the variety of instruments offered and plays the cello, bass, and drums.

Carter, an 11th-grade Instrumental Music major, plays drums and saxophone but wants to focus more on drums this year.

This year, the Instrumental Music program is losing some students who are going off to college, work, or pursuing other paths in life. One of these students is Kanix, a senior, who is sadly leaving this year, said that they are “Kinda sad, but I will come back.”

We also asked other students and Mr. Lijoi how they’re feeling about this year in the Instrumental Music program.

An 11th grader, Alan, stated, “This year I’m kinda hoping to try other instruments because everyone’s leaving in the bass section to try new instruments, and I want to try other stuff.”

And last but not least, our music teacher, Mr. Lijoi, said he is “Pretty stoked. Got lots of good energy and overall vibes, and very talented students.” He also mentioned that majors, “Need to work on getting to work more quickly and transitioning to rehearsal time more efficiently.”

This year, TAPCo students have the privilege of either being a part of or watching some shows put on by the band majors. Starting with our Cultural Celebration (tentatively in November), followed by the Winter Concert in the second week of December, the Bronx Borough Arts Fest Pathways Festival in March, and finally the Spring Concert in April.

With all these shows, we asked the majors how they feel about them. Kanix said, “I’m both excited and not because we’re probably gonna do harder songs, but I’m ready.”

This school year, AI use in TAPCo has been off the charts. Teachers, staff and students have been using AI in both bad ways and good ways. 

Ms Houle, a CTE Teacher at TAPCo, said “AI has been integrated into almost every technology tool, to google searches, to teaching resources. So even if you try not to use AI you might accidentally use it. Some teachers use Magic School that uses an AI Lesson creator.” 

Mr. Buchbinder, a Debate teacher, said “I use AI to create course materials that are not easy to find regularly.”

However, these things can ruin the charm of teaching, for both students and teachers. According to a recent study by the Center for Democracy and Technology, “One of the negative consequences AI has on students is that it is stopping students from developing a meaningful relationship with their teachers.”

As a result of this, in 2023, the DOE banned ChatGPT. A 2023 article from Chalkbeat noted that “New York City students and teachers can no longer access ChatGPT — the new artificial intelligence-powered chatbot that generates stunningly cogent and lifelike writing — on education department devices or internet networks, agency officials confirmed Tuesday.”

A student who wished to remain anonymous said, “I’ve used ChatGPT to write about 7 essays, back in 8th grade.” This serves as a huge problem that also ruins the learning experience.

Ms. Houle also noted that, “The school district mandates for teachers to use ThinkCerca, and in it, it has AI LLM that provides feedback to students that use the program, and to grade.“

One 9th Grade student said, “I liked the immediate feedback, but I didn't like the feedback given to me. It wasn't like how a teacher gave me feedback,” reacted a 9th grade student. 

Another student said, “I didn't appreciate the feedback as it wasn't as helpful as real teacher feedback.”

While some see it as a negative, other students see it as a positive. Another anonymous student stated that they use AI as a study resource for her math work, when she misses class. “I don’t use AI in class because I pay attention and understand the work…but I use it at home if I still don’t understand from the Delta Math examples.”