San Francisco School of the Arts

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San Francisco School of the Arts
Pennant of School of the Arts
Location
555 Portola Drive
San Francisco, California 94131
Information
Principal Carmelo Sgarlato
Faculty 80
Enrollment about 600
Campus Urban
Teams None
Website http://sfsota.org

School of the Arts High School (SOTA) is a public magnet high school in San Francisco, California, in the United States. SOTA was ranked by Newsweek's Jay Mathews Challenge Index as the 347th best high school in the United States in 2007.[1]

SOTA is known[who?] as having one of the more ethnically diverse student populations in the city. SOTA offers comprehensive four-year artistic programs. To be admitted, a student is required to pass an audition in the chosen art discipline.

Contents

[edit] History and controversy

For many years, Ruth Asawa and others campaigned to start a public high school in San Francisco devoted to the arts. At its inception, SOTA was a part of J. Eugene McAteer High School and was located at its present site on Portola Drive. In 1992, the school moved to a former elementary school at 700 Font Boulevard near San Francisco State University. In 2002, McAteer High School was dissolved, and SOTA (along with other high schools) was offered the site. The SOTA community elected to make this an interim move, and in 2005 a new school, the Academy of Arts and Sciences, was founded on the SOTA campus.

SOTA has been at the center of several struggles with the San Francisco Green Party, particularly with the Green members of the San Francisco Board of Education. These feuds are generally based on a perception of SOTA as elitist or racist.[citation needed] Matt Gonzalez, a San Francisco Green Party leader who won 47% of the vote in San Francisco's 2003 mayoral runoff election, stated in his campaign platform[2] that

"passing an audition is a hurdle that many students can’t surmount[..]the school district must ensure a 'pipeline' through the elementary and middle schools that will guarantee much higher rates of low income minority representation at SOTA."

At a School Board meeting in December 2005, Green board member Mark Sanchez, asserting that SOTA did not make adequate use of the McAteer campus,[3] proposed moving SOTA to "empty classrooms in a middle school in the Mission or Excelsior district" in order to lease the campus and thus tighten the district's budget gap.[4] Proponents of SOTA[who?] counter that Sanchez's proposal amounts to the District "becom(ing) landlords at the expense of our students," and that with the newly founded Academy of Arts and Sciences bringing the number of students on the campus to 1,000 once it has reached peak capacity, along with the many SFUSD offices located at SOTA, "(i)t is completely inaccurate to say that this is an underutilized campus."

[edit] The Academy

A new high school, known as the Academy of Arts and Sciences, opened on the SOTA campus in the 2005-2006 school year, in part because of complaints that SOTA's 650 students were not using the SOTA campus to its full potential (complaints that ignored the many SFUSD administrative offices located at SOTA). The Academy admits students through the normal SFUSD high school admissions process, rather than an audition process as SOTA does. Academy students receive instruction in the arts, but not as focused or as emphasized as that given to SOTA students. The Academy has become a popular high school for students interested in the arts who have not met the SOTA audition requirements, including students who hope to apply for admission to SOTA later in high school. SOTA and the Academy are slowly but surely developing into a tight ensemble of artistic development.

[edit] Admissions

To enter SOTA, prospective students must pass an audition into one of SOTA's nine disciplines. The audition process varies between disciplines, and may change from year to year. Some departments, such as Visual Arts and Creative Writing, require students to bring a portfolio of their work to be presented before a panel of judges. Theatre, Dance, and Instrumental Music departments require live performances by prospective students as part of their auditions. Other departments may require applicants to simply attend the audition and follow instructions.

[edit] Athletics

SOTA does not have an athletics program. SOTA students are allowed to join teams of other public high schools or outside leagues. However, all students must fulfill the district-mandated requirement of 4 semesters of physical education.

All students at SOTA must now take PE. It has been made a requirement.

Although SOTA does not supply students with any official sports teams, the sports clubs such as football and soccer are quite popular. SOTA also develops sportsmanship through nonathletic teams such as their city-wide acclaimed Mock Trial team.

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] References

  1. ^ Newsweek: 1,200 Top U.S. Schools
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ [2]
  4. ^ [3]

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