Baltimore School for the Arts

Baltimore School for the Arts
File:BCPSSBaltoSchArts.gif
Address
712 Cathedral Street Baltimore , Maryland 21201
Information
School type	Public
Founded	1979
Superintendent	Nancy Grasmick
School number	315
Principal	Leslie Shepard
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	300 (2006)
Language	English
Area	Urban
Website	www.bsfa.org

Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA) is a public high school located in Baltimore, Maryland and is a part of its public school system. BSFA offers concentrations in classical music, theater, dance and visual art. The school has produced numerous "Presidential Scholars"[1] in the Arts and its students have gone on to attend major conservatories and Ivy League Schools.

History

In 1979, the President of the School Board authored a charter creating the Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA). In the form of a resolution of the school board, this charter followed many years of effort to create an arts high school, including a 1978 recommendation of the special Task Force appointed by Mayor William Donald Schaefer. The BSA was created as part of the Baltimore school system, however the charter 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 charter stated "that it differ from other Baltimore city high schools by training students with potential for careers in the performing and visual arts."

Mission

The Baltimore School for the Arts is a school that intends to prepare its students for careers in the arts. The school provides qualified students with training in one of four arts disciplines: the visual arts, music, theatre, or dance in combination with a comprehensive, college preparatory academic program. The theatre and music majors are split into two groups each: for theatre, there is both acting and stage production, and the music department is split into vocalists and instrumentalists.

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 Baltimore children.

Today, BSA graduates go on to study at a number of colleges, universities and conservatories. BSA alumni also have careers in business, human services and education.

Academics

The Baltimore School for the Arts is a four-year public high school that provides young people with intensive, pre-professional training in the arts within the context of a comprehensive, college preparatory academic curriculum. Working with a distinguished faculty, students pursue any one of four disciplines--the visual arts, instrumental music, singing, theatre, stage production and dance--in an environment that emphasizes professionalism and scholarship. About 450 students attend the school, coming from public and private schools in and around Baltimore. Students are accepted by audition or portfolio review.

In Media

• The school was featured prominently in the 2006 film Step Up, although most of the actual filming of the movie did not take place inside BSA.

Famous Alumni

• Jada Pinkett Smith - actress
• Tracie Thoms - actress
• Antonio Hart - jazz saxophonist
• Anna Elashvili- violinist
• Eric Greene - baritone
• Tupac Shakur - Hip-Hop artist
• Angela Fout website - operatic soprano