ACADEMICS

Oakland School for the Arts is in development to become a Linked Learning Pathway School. In addition to our existing college preparation, students will be gaining industry experience and feedback from targeted partnerships for their art focus. As a learning community, we are committed to unifying our instruction to bring an experience to students that is engaging and relevant to their future as dynamic global citizens and innovative critical thinkers. Our goal is to prepare students for higher education in the field of study of their choice, as well as give them the advantage of high-level training and experience which will enable them to enter apprenticeships or artistic positions as a working professional. The OSA program enables our students to: 

• Be creative and innovative
• Develop techniques and skills in at least one artistic area
• Speak in their own artistic voices with authority
• Communicate effectively
• Develop and maintain a global perspective
• Satisfy college admissions requirements
• Seek solutions
• Think in an interdisciplinary mode

OSA has an outstanding college-preparatory academic program, which meets the A-G requirements for University of California and California State University admissions. All students take English, History, Romance Language, Mathematics, Science and Social Science. Students concentrate on one area of art – Dance, Digital Media, Fashion Design, Instrumental Music, Literary Arts, Production Design, Theatre, Vocal Music or Visual Art.

Small classes allow for individual attention and personal training. Tutoring for core academic classes is also available and encouraged. OSA students also receive ongoing professional training from various East Bay arts organizations and practicing artists in the community.

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  • OSA has a 99% college acceptance rate
  • OSA students taking AP exams scored with a higher pass rate (74%) than the California average (63.7%) and the national average (61.3%).
  • On average, 25% of our students received a 5 (top score) on AP exams vs the 15% California average.
  • Preliminary California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CASPP) testing results have shown a marked improvement in both our Math and English Language Arts scores over last year. We have higher scores in almost every category, with an average 9 point increase in those categories.