TC ELLIS

After a successful career as a recording artist with Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Prince on Warner Brothers and Paisley Park Records, David "TC" Ellis created Studio 4 Enterprises, Inc. in 1996 in St. Paul, MN. With an intention to sell studio time and find the next recording superstar, David was instead struck with the number of young people hanging out at his studio and passionate about the recording arts. While these young people were incredibly creative, smart and enterprising, most had already dropped out of school due to boredom and a sense that school wasn't relevant to their lives and dreams. David was moved to respond to this situation and after consulting with a number of key people in his learning journey initiated Studio 4 to create the High School for Recording Arts as a public charter school in 1998.