Vancouver School of Arts and Academics

The Vancouver School of Arts and Academics (VSAA) is a school of choice where the arts are immersed in academic study. Five hundred and fifty students in grades 6-12 choose to attend VSAA based on their interest in the arts. At the school, they pursue a wide variety of learning opportunities ranging from subject exploration to advanced study.

The School of Arts and Academics offers a complete middle and high school program including advanced levels of science, mathematics, and foreign language. All students attend the school full-time. The daily atmosphere of strenuous creative work, self-discipline, integrity, and dedication prepares students for both college and future careers. In accordance with the vision of the Vancouver School District, the school’s goal is for graduates to "achieve literacy and appropriate core competencies, and become responsible and compassionate citizens."

Vancouver’s School of Arts and Academics is characterized by a simple block schedule with students attending all six classes each Monday and three alternating classes the other days of the week. Additionally, middle-school students have a fitness/health time scheduled three times a week in the middle of the day while high school students attend an interdisciplinary “core” class. Science, mathematics, social studies, and English are studied every year by all middle school students, and most high school students. In addition to academic classes students take at least two art classes each year. High school students, once they have met academic graduation requirements, have the option of taking additional art classes or pursuing an internship experience in the arts. Beginning to advanced levels of six art forms are offered: dance, music, theatre, literary arts, visual arts, and moving image arts.

All students are expected to explore each art form but may choose to focus in one or more arts during their seven years at the school. Professional artists and community leaders play an important role at the school. Students learn alongside working artists and also have field experiences in the community.

Each student at the Vancouver School of Arts and Academics has a teacher assigned who remains his or her advocate for seven years. The advocate comes to know the student well and in cooperation with the student’s family, helps to guide that student’s academic and social progress.

One of the strongest features of the school is its talented staff. Teachers are active as school leaders, participate in joint decision-making, attend and present workshops and conferences, design curriculum, and are active lifelong learners. All staff members apply to work at the school and are selected for their flexibility, enthusiasm, excellence in their discipline, willingness to collaborate, and their sincere desire to work with young people. The school was founded on the concept that the arts are essential to self-fulfillment.

Located on Main Street in the city of Vancouver, Washington and near the heart of the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area, the Vancouver School of Arts and Academics is well-placed as a community arts center. The school offers a wide array of performance, studio, and exhibition space to students and artists alike. Originally built as the historic Shumway Junior High School in 1929, the school was remodeled in 1996 through local bond dollars and a generous grant from the Washington State Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development.

Historically, the school has not just been an artist community; the academics instilled in the students have offered publicly visible results. According to the "2005 Report Card" published in Portland Monthly (September 2005), the VSAA was rated (within the Vancouver School District) with the best graduation rate (98%), the best 2003-2004 Grade 10 WASL Reading (89), Writing (87) and Math (71) scores, the lowest student/teacher ratio (13:1, respectively), and was the only school in Clark County serving grades 6 to 12.

In addition to English, math, science, and social studies the students also take classes in dance, music (vocal and instrumental), theatre/drama, literary arts, moving image arts (film/video), and visual art. Every student must study each art form in at least one class; they can then choose to either focus in one or two art forms or continue "multimedia study" (studying all art forms). The school's block schedule allows students to take three 100 minute classes a day. An interdisiplinary core class acts as a collaborative foundation for learning across classes and grade levels, further combining arts, academics into experiential learning projects based on a theme usually set by instructors. The VSAA's 550 students (numbers fluxuate some) are all subjected to an application process that identifies the interest a prospective student has in the arts, which is considered by staff to be the most important qualification for entrance to the public arts magnet, rather than pre-existing talent.




Mission Statement
It is the mission of the Vancouver School of Arts and Academics to see that our students lead satisfying, productive lives. Students will recall their school experience as one of artistry, rigor, and community, in which they were known as individuals. Here, they will have learned to think critically and creatively, as well as to act responsibly.

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Vancouver School of Arts and Academics Art School Location

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