At this Norfolk school, you and classmates will rock

NORFOLK

Get out your electric guitars and Aerosmith lyrics, kids. The School of Rock has come to town.

Remember the 2003 Jack Black movie of the same name? He was a failed rocker who turned a strait-laced fifth-grade class into a jamming rock band.

The film was based on the real School of Rock in Philadelphia, which has grown into a network of more than 65 after-school programs in the United States and Mexico.

Among the newest: the School of Rock in the former Eagleton's art store on Boush Street. Its fall session will begin Tuesday.

"I think the general idea presented in the movie is what the School of Rock is all about," said Skip Locke, 43, who with his wife owns the Hampton Roads franchise for School of Rock. "You take a group of kids who may or may not know they can play or haven't learned how to play yet. A lot of them have talent that hasn't been discovered. The school helps bring that out."

Parents, rejoice. "The ultimate goal is for them to become a musician," he said.

The school will offer individual lessons and group rehearsals for children ages 7 to 18 from 3 to 9 p.m. weekdays and occasional weekend hours. Tuition will be $265 a month, Locke said.

Instruction will be offered for guitar, bass, drums, keyboard and vocals. More instruments may be added.

Students will begin in Rock 101, with a 45-minute individual lesson and a 1-1/2 -hour band rehearsal every week. When they are ready, they will move to Rock Performance, with a 45-minute lesson and three-hour band rehearsal.

The Rock Performance students will really perform. "The bands will gig out every three to four months" at local venues, Locke said.

Locke is chief technology officer for Morphix Technologies in Virginia Beach. His wife, Kathleen, 42, is a former elementary school teacher.

But he plays the guitar, and both are big rock fans. He goes for oldie bands such as Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin. She's more modern, partial to the Foo Fighters and the Dave Matthews Band.

They've hired four part-time teachers, all local musicians. Drummer Steve Archer is the music director.

The school held a one-week summer camp for 15 students, Kathleen Locke said. She said about 15 have also signed up for the fall, with more expected.

Hunter Flora and Hunter Harrington - 10-year-old friends, classmates and guitar players in Norfolk - attended the camp and will return for more rock.

"They just teach you this really great stuff," Hunter Flora said. "I learned tons of songs, and at the end they let you do this concert in front of all the parents, and it really was fun."

His mother, Amy, said, "I thought it was great because it got Hunter very enthusiastic about playing the guitar. He didn't want to practice and wasn't really interested. Now he's very interested."

Hunter Flora can't commit to a professional future in rock 'n' roll. He also plays baseball. But Hunter Harrington thinks he might become a rock 'n' roller.

"I liked how we got to play in a whole band and try different instruments and learn a lot of music," he said.

Sam Dorsey, chairman of the music department at Norfolk State University, said, "I don't know anything about it, but I'm glad to hear it's coming. Any musical activity is a good activity."

Skip Locke said the refurbished 10,000-square-foot Eagleton's building has a 2,300-square-foot performance space, 13 classrooms and a recording studio.

The school will hold an open house from 2 to 6 p.m. Sept. 25. A band from the Baltimore School of Rock will perform.

And aging air-guitar players needn't give up hope. Locke said he plans to add adult classes.

Philip Walzer, (757) 222-3864, phil.walzer@pilotonline.com