Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts
Address
555 Portola Drive

San Francisco
,
California
94131

United States
Coordinates37°44′43″N 122°26′55″W / 37.7454°N 122.4486°W / 37.7454; -122.4486
Information
TypePublic Arts High School
Established1982 (1982)
School districtSan Francisco Unified School District
NCES School ID063441001276[1]
PrincipalKenneth Purser[2]
Teaching staff29.18 (on an FTE basis)[1]
Grades9–12
Enrollment795 (2018-19)[1]
Student to teacher ratio27.24[1]
MascotDragon
NewspaperRASOTA Daily Dragon
Websiteasawa.sfusd.edu

The Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts, is a public alternative high school in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1982 and is part of the San Francisco Unified School District. It is currently located at 555 Portal Drive, San Francisco CA 94131.https://www.sfusd.edu/school/ruth-asawa-san-francisco-school-arts

History

For many years, Ruth Asawa, sculptor and passionate advocate for arts in education, as well as others had campaigned to start a public high school in San Francisco devoted to the arts, with the ultimate goal of such a school to be located in the arts corridor in the heart of San Francisco's Civic Center.

At its inception in 1982, School of the Arts was created as a part of J. Eugene McAteer High School, on its present site on Portola Drive. Ten years later, in 1992, the school - now a full-fledged public school separate from McAteer - was relocated to the former SFUSD Frederick Burke Elementary School at 700 Font Boulevard on the campus of San Francisco State University. Due to the dissolution of McAteer High School in 2002, SOTA was offered to return to the more appropriate, fully equipped high school site. https://www.sfusd.edu/school/ruth-asawa-san-francisco-school-arts.

In 2010, School of the Arts was renamed the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts in honor of Ruth Asawa.[3] In 2011, the school was recognized as a "California Distinguished School" by the California Department of Education as one of the state's most "exemplary and inspiring" public schools, demonstrating significant gains in narrowing the achievement gap among its students.[4]

In 2005 a new public high school, the Academy of Arts and Sciences, was started and shares the McAteer campus with SOTA. Although it shares the campus with the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts, it is a completely separate school.[5] Now called The Academy - San Francisco @ McAteer, it admits students through the normal high school admissions process. https://www.sfusd.edu/school/academy-san-francisco-mcateer

Arts and Academics

Ruth Asawa School of the Arts offers visual and performing art classes daily in addition to a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum. Asawa SOTA has eight art departments with ten strands. The departments are:

  • Architecture and Design
  • Dance — Conservatory Dance or World Dance
  • Media and Film
  • Music — Classical Instrumental, Contemporary Instrumental, Vocal, or World Music
  • Technical Theater — Stagecraft or Costume and Fashion Design
  • Theater — Acting, Musical Theater
  • Visual Arts — Drawing, Painting, Digital, and Sculpture
  • Writing - Creative Writing or Spoken Arts

With a graduation rate of 98% and 91% of those students going on to two- and four-year colleges and universities in 2023, academic success is as important as the arts education component. During the 2022–2023 school year, nine Advanced Placement courses were offered with 30% of the 700+ students taking an AP test that year.[6] Of the 236 students who took an AP test in 2023, 79% of them scored a 3 or above. Each year SOTA posts these scores and extensive information on the Annual School Profile where prospective students and parents can see an academic snapshot of school performance and a list of colleges, universities and conservatories where SOTA graduates have continued their education. [7]

Admissions process

All students who complete the audition assignment are offered an opportunity to audition in person for admission to SOTA the following year. Auditioning students are admitted based on audition results; no academic criteria are used. Current admission information is available at the SFUSD website for SOTA at https://www.sfusd.edu/school/ruth-asawa-san-francisco-school-arts/admission.

Current application information can be found on the SOTA site https://www.sfusd.edu/school/ruth-asawa-san-francisco-school-arts/admission/prospective-students. Applications are due in mid-December. Auditions are held in early February for placement the following school year. Ruth Asawa School of the Arts application process is different from other SFUSD high schools. Applicants must apply to both the school site and the San Francisco Unified School District. .[8]

Landscape of a track and field to the right and houses to the left.
SOTA's track, field, and garden

Alumni

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Search for Public Schools - Asawa (Ruth) SF Sch of the Arts A Public School (063441001276)". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Administration". Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  3. ↑ Tucker, Jill (February 24, 2010). "S.F. school board votes to send pink out slips". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  4. ↑ "2011 Distinguished Middle and High Schools". California Department of Education. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Academy of Arts and Sciences". San Francisco Unified School District. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  6. ↑ "2022-23 School Profile v12.pdf". Google Docs. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  7. ↑ "School profile". San Francisco Unified School District.
  8. ↑ "Admissions | SFUSD". www.sfusd.edu. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  9. ↑ Gilbert, Andrew (February 24, 2016). "Trombonist Natalie Cressman honors jazz pioneer". SFGate. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  10. ↑ Nguyen, Chris (March 3, 2018). "Sam Rockwell's alma mater in San Francisco hoping for Oscar glory". ABC7 San Francisco. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  11. ↑ Trevenon, Stacy (March 9, 2001). "The music man cometh". Half Moon Bay Review. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  12. ↑ Carlson, Erin (August 31, 2019). "The Rising Stars of San Francisco Films". Nob Hill Gazette. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  13. ↑ Whiting, Sam (March 2, 2016). "Most likely to... Actors and their Bay Area high schools". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
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