It was hard not to feel empathy for the aspiring dancer depicted on the front page of the New York Times last week, in an excellent piece by Jennifer Medinathat looked at the grueling schedule of auditions for ninth-graders hoping to snag a spot in a performing arts high school.

The endurance test had to have struck a chord with parents who are going through auditions. It for me brought back the frightening moment a year ago when I thought I heard my now 9th grade son tell me that his much practiced musical audition to Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School was “awful,’ – instead of  "awesome."

Auditions are rife with tension and drama, but lost in the piece was an ever present question for parents whose children ultimately get into a performing arts high school. What will the quality of the academic experience be, and what trade-offs, if any, will kids and parents have to make?<!--more-->

Insideschools would like to hear more from parents at schools like Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, Professional Performing Arts, Talent Unlimited, and Brooklyn High School of the Arts, to name a few. If your child is a talented actor, dancer, artist or musician, will acceptance at one of these schools mean sacrificing a challenging, college oriented curriculum?

What opportunities will they have for advanced placement, honors, or International Baccalaureate courses that can only help with college acceptance? Are many of the students in these schools so tied up with their performing careers  that their academic experience is secondary?

Does a school’s intense focus on the arts mean certain courses might have to be sacrificed? In an era of budget cutting, when schools are dramatically scaling back programs, will your child lose out in the arts, academics or both? Do the schools offer an honors track? And, how about the quality of teaching?

In a city where the supply of excellent high schools can in no way meet the demand, some students will be fortunate enough to get into both a performing high school and one of the eight specialized high school like Brooklyn Tech that require a competitive exam. If that is the case, they may also be matched with one of up to 12 other schools they ranked, and will have to make a choice come March.

In the city, having choices is a blessing -- last yearmore than 7,000 students initially had no match at all -- which is why many parents choose to prepare their children for admissions exams and send them on multiple tryouts just for options.

In subsequent weeks, Insideschools will take a closer look at other  specialty high schools and ask parents to share some of those experiences. For now, though, we ask:  Is your child thriving at a performing arts school, pining away for a more academic experience, or perhaps exhausted and overwhelmed trying to navigate both?