Each day, the sound of blaring instruments and the vocals of aspiring Broadway performers seep through the walls of the clusters of portable classrooms nestled behind the Fresno State music building — compliments of the University High School (UHS) students.

Recently ranked 36 out of more than 18,000 public high schools in the country by U.S. News & World Report, UHS has given birth to a new way of learning for its 390 students — and the faculty and students at Fresno State.

Established in 2000, the charter high school is one of the few to be located directly on a college campus and focuses heavily on music — requiring that each applicant have an instrumental or vocal background — while following a rigorous curriculum similar to that of same-sized private schools.

Vida Samiian, Ph.D, dean of College of Arts and Humanities and a UHS board member, said the presence of UHS on campus serves a learning purpose for both schools.

“UHS provides a laboratory environment for some of our [Fresno State] faculty to work and collaborate with the [UHS] teachers,â€Â Samiian said. “It shows how forward-thinking we have been as a university because other universities have been following up … trying to develop schools [on their own campus].â€Â

This collaboration comes in many forms, from UHS serving as an “experimental schoolâ€Â in university research to applying for grants that serve a financial purpose for the university and a learning opportunity for the high school.

For example, the university̢۪s food science and nutrition department is now able to finance an herb garden at the on-campus farm, due in part to a joint effort with UHS in applying for a grant. In return, UHS students will be given the opportunity to attend workshops focused on food science, said James Bushman, Ph.D., head of UHS.

“This is a great opportunity because our school represents a lot of good things that are in keeping with what the university wants and what we want for students,â€Â Bushman said. “We do a lot of interactive activities that augment and enrich everybody’s program. In many cases, for a lot of different majors, our presence helps fulfill what they’re doing. So many people benefit.â€Â

In the past, Fresno State students progressing toward their teaching credentials have been allowed to “pop into class on a regular basisâ€Â and observe what goes on in a classroom setting, without ever leaving campus, Bushman said.

Counseling majors have found internship opportunities through UHS. The university’s music department studies the various teaching methods employed by UHS faculty, all of whom are credentialed and make up one of the “most educated staff of any school in the area,â€Â Bushman said.

In return, UHS students receive the advantage of being a part of the college experience during their high school years. They get a sense of what college professors expect from students and therefore feel more prepared for, and are more likely to attend, college, Bushman said.

Also, UHS students gain from a rigorous curriculum developed by Fresno State faculty and regional faculty in an attempt to create a school offering courses to thoroughly prepare its students for college, Samiian said.

UHS students are given opportunities to enroll in courses not found in the typical high school. The result is a set of courses that is not only demanding, but also extensive.

“We’re the only high school in this area that believes that music should be taught as a standard core curriculum course,â€Â Bushman said. “If you go to any other high school in town, you can be in a band class … but nobody actually teaches music as a subject of something worthy of knowing and understanding.â€Â

Despite its main focus of music, UHS students are also pushed to excel in an array of subjects ranging from Latin to the sciences. Two years of Latin and five different science courses are both requirements. In addition to the required courses, students are given the opportunity to enroll in college courses and earn college credit.

Bushman said each student will graduate with 23 units of college credit because some required courses are completed directly through the university̢۪s courses.

Kayla Wyllie, a sophomore at UHS, feels that all of the components of the school, including the small class sizes, attribute to each student̢۪s success.

From speaking with UHS graduates who are now attending college at University of California campuses, Wyllie found they agreed on one thing: “they say that [college is] a breeze compared to UHS.â€Â

Bushman said this sentiment is common among UHS graduates because “students feel they’ve done college.

Being here for four years, they feel very comfortable in a college environment. The rigor they get from us, the socialization … all I think adequately prepare them to go out and do fine,â€Â he said.

By combining these two schools, a setting is created where all students and faculty interact and learn from one another.

“It’s kind of simple…you give them an environment where students and teachers can excel, and they will,â€Â Samiian said.