The Boston Arts Academy

The Boston Arts Academy is the city's first public high school for the visual and performing arts. The academy is committed to a rigorous academic and arts education for students who are eager to think creatively and independently, to question, and to take risks within a college preparatory program. As a Pilot school within the Boston Public Schools, the Arts Academy is charged with being a laboratory of academic innovation and a beacon for arts education. The Arts Academy is an exploring member of the Coalition of Essential Schools. The Arts Academy is also a collaborative project between the ProArts Consortium, and Boston higher learning institutions specializing in the visual arts, performing arts, and architecture: Berklee College of Music, Boston Architectural Center, the Boston Conservatory, Emerson College, Massachusetts College of Art, and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts.  Students must audition as 8th graders to be admitted.

The school opened its doors in September 1998 to 160 ninth and tenth graders representing every neighborhood in Boston. The Academy, a four-year secondary school, now serves approxiametely 400 students.  The school environment expects, and rewards, intellectual and artistic risk taking, as well as learning deeply about a variety of disciplines. For over two decades groups have made attempts to initiate an arts high school in the Boston Public Schools. The ProArts Consortium along with the Boston Public Schools, the Mayor of Boston, arts and cultural organizations, community activists, and countless parents have made this school a reality. 

Link to Boston Arts Academy.