Introducing
Atlanta School for the Arts
Preparing Atlanta's next generation of artists and patrons of the arts
About
Atlanta School for the Arts will be an arts professional preparatory high school that serves +/- 400 Atlanta students through a partnership between the Atlanta School for the Arts Foundation and an Atlanta area public school district. We anticipate opening in 2022.
Every student will audition in their intended major of music (vocal or instrumental), theater, visual arts, or dance. The most talented students will be accepted regardless of their income level, academic record, or previous access to formal training.
Remember Fame? It's like that.
All students 9th-12th grade will complete the Georgia requirements for graduation, including coursework in English, Math, Social Studies, Science, Foreign Language, and Health.
All students will also participate in more than 180 minutes of intensive coursework in their major each day, which is taught by local working artists; as well as a course in financial literacy for artists. This prepares each graduate to enter conservatory or arts careers upon graduation.
"The future belongs to young people with an education and the imagination to CREATE."
President Barack Obama
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The research is clear: arts school graduates learn skills they use in work life, regardless of their career.
Learn more about the power of graduating from an arts school (and see more data) here: http://snaap.indiana.edu/snaapshot/
Atlanta is unique in its absence of an arts school. From Miami to Houston to Los Angeles to Albequerque to Winston-Salem, most major cities in the US offer high schools for the arts where students build their arts networks, receive mentorship from artists in their field, and participate in intensive training to develop their arts skills while earning a diploma.
We sat down with Decatur FM to talk more about the vision for Atlanta Schools for the Arts and why it matters for Atlanta.
School for the Arts Graduates Are Successful.
An ongoing study of arts school graduates has found that arts graduates are exactly what the work force is looking for right now. Arts professional preparatory programs, like Atlanta School for the Arts, prepare students for today's careers through the intensity of arts instruction, individualized attention, focus on creativity and innovation, and integration into the local arts community.
The same study also found that arts graduates are more likely to obtain careers in their fields than their peers who pursue those "safe" majors like Biology and Engineering. 80% of arts graduates use their arts education in their work and feel their arts skills are critical to their career success. More than 70% have ended up in an arts career.
Without a centralized hub for Atlanta's working artists and aspiring artists to collaborate, Atlanta students graduate four years behind their peers who have attended arts schools in other cities.
