Metropolitan Fine Arts Center (MFAC) of Alexandria, Va. is growing in big ways, from dance studio to the first, D.C.-area, private performing arts high school. MFAC currently offers performing arts studio classes in Alexandria, Old Town Alexandria and Fairfax Station, Va., but MFAC is set to move their Fairfax Station location to leased space at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, Va. on July 1, 2013 and will commence their all-day high school classes at their newly created, Metropolitan School of the Arts (MSA) on the 55-acre Lorton Arts Foundation campus in September, 2013. The Lorton Arts Foundation, Workhouse Arts Center and Metropolitan Fine Arts Center (MFAC) agreed on a collaboration proposal to incorporate MFAC service on the campus, and recently received approval from Fairfax County to move forward on Phase 1 of the proposal. Go to www.metroschoolofthearts.org for more information on school admissions.

ANNANDALE, Va.  (WUSA) - "I went into my parent's medicine cabinet and took a bottle of Percocet," described Caitlin Acosta, 24, about the first time she thought about taking drugs. She was 12 years old.

"I just remember the principal saying, this is bad, really bad," said Acosta who was charged with a felony for narcotics possession and suspended from school for two weeks.

"I started smoking pot in the 7th grade. And drinking," Acosta explained. She said that after she got in trouble, her self-esteem and self-worth fell. Her friends dropped away and she started hanging out with the "bad kids."

Acosta is a resident of Falls Church and a graduate of George Mason High School, where her alcohol and drug additions only got worse. She was a cheerleader in high school, but kept on smoking marijuana. Then she started selling her prescription Adderall.

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Census data shows Asians are now the fastest growing racial group in the U.S. Locally, both Fairfax and Montgomery Counties saw near 15% increases in the Asian American population in the last decade. Based on state planning info, the largest demographics within the region are Chinese, Indian and Korean (in that order). We asked representatives in our newsroom to talk about taking pride in their identities. 

Monika Samtani (Traffic):