Mission
The Baltimore School for the Arts strives to be the leading pre-professional arts high school in the country. BSA provides talented students from all sectors of the community with a personally supportive and intellectually challenging environment where rigorous training in a specific arts discipline combines with a college preparatory academic education. The School provides qualified students with intensive training in one of four arts disciplines: the visual arts, music, theatre or dance. A further mission of the school is to serve as an arts resource for the Baltimore community by offering performances, educational workshops and extensive after-school training in the arts to children from city elementary and middle schools.
History
In 1979, the Baltimore City School Board approved a charter, in the form of resolutions, creating the Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA). The BSA was created as part of the Baltimore City Public School System; however the resolutions provided the BSA with the structure and the authority to design and implement policies and programs necessary to be successful in its mission as a pre-professional arts high school. The resolutions stated "that it differ from other Baltimore city high schools by training students with potential for careers in the performing and visual arts."
Achievements
Over the past 25 years, the Baltimore School for the Arts has achieved the following:
? In 2001, the Doris Duke and Surdna Foundations recognized BSA as one the top five public arts high schools in the country.
? In 1990, BSA was named by the National Endowment for the Arts as one of the top five public arts schools in the country and was recognized as a Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education.
? The International NETWORK of Schools for the Advancement of Arts Education selected our TWIGS program for its 2006 Community Partnership Award which celebrates the use of arts and education to foster community enhancement.
? Although BSA admits students based on an arts audition (without consideration of past academic performance or test scores) each year between 95-99% of our graduates go on to higher education.
? BSA students have a national impact in the arts. BSA graduates are on Broadway, television, films, in major dance companies, orchestras, design firms – graduates also have careers in education, business and human services.
? BSA serves thousands of Baltimore City school children (from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade) and their families through community outreach programs.
Student Selection and Retention
The goal of the BSA is to prepare students within a four-year program to compete nationally for admissions to leading conservatories, art schools, liberal arts colleges and/or professional companies. Therefore, students with the potential to pursue a professional career in their arts discipline are selected through yearly auditions, open to eighth and ninth graders -- more than 1,000 students vying for approximately 100 spots. The admission process gives no consideration to past academic performance. In order to graduate, however, BSA students must successfully meet the school's rigorous standards in both the arts and academic programs.
Student Body
BSA has grown from a total enrollment of 68 students in 1980 to a current enrollment (2008-2009) of 357 students in the ninth through 12th grades. The majority of our students - 75% - are Baltimore City residents. Twenty-five percent are non-city students who come from Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, Howard, Prince George and Frederick Counties. The diverse socio-economic, cultural and racial mix is a special quality of the school. In the 2008-2009 school year, the demographic breakdown of our student body is approximately 53% African-American, 40% Caucasian, and 7% Asian, Hispanic and American Indian.
Our Graduates
BSA graduates can be seen on Broadway, in television, films, nationally known dance companies, orchestras and design firms. BSA alumni also have careers in business, human services and education. Some noteworthy graduates of BSA are actress Jada Pinkett Smith, Broadway actors Bryan West and Tracie Thoms, conductor Andrew Grams, Alvin Ailey dancers Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell, Bahiyah Sayyed-Gaines, Dion Wilson and Khilea Douglass, just to name a few.
Professional Collaborations
Alliances with other professional organizations have become an essential part of the training for BSA students. BSA faculty and students collaborate on a variety of projects though alliances with Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Everyman Theatre, Center Stage, Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore Museum of Art, Peabody, MICA and others. An important part of our philosophy at BSA is also to provide a direct link to the professional world by inviting accomplished artists and luminaries to inspire our students. When renowned artists make local appearances in Baltimore, BSA invites them to conduct master classes.
Faculty & Curriculum
BSA classes are taught by 38 full-time and 63 part-time faculty who together provide for a rigorous curriculum both in arts and academics. The core of the arts faculty is composed of distinguished professional actors, dancers, musicians and visual artists, who teach at the school on a part-time basis, providing a critical link between the BSA students and the professional arts world. The academic program at BSA includes courses such as Honors and Advanced Placement English, Calculus, Physics, Chemistry, Senior Seminar in Art and Culture and Spanish through Spanish IV. Each arts department has an extensive pre-professional program, consisting of 20 hours per week of instruction that is designed to give students a broad-based background.
