Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of The Arts

When I was getting into this school for visual arts, I had to illustrate 15 pieces with multiple mediums as requirements. But the kids have to only draw 6 illustrations now? What?

Sota is an art school which is cool I guess but um Academy, the school in sotas basement is basically SOTAS REJECTS

(Read the review from Nadine about this school and the whole leftist thing, says a lot about this school.) Being accepted into this school has become one of the best joys in my life. I came here as an AsPiRIng artist, and I love being able to work with other very talented artists. I'd say I love the support i've gotten from teachers and whatnot at the school. I was very depressed and never went to class from the anxiety of seeing new faces. I always hid away and skipped class. Which you should never do obviously, but they were always there to try and help me get to class. They care and that really matters, to me anyway.

I heard about a girl dropping out of this school, she right Gud thing I did not audition in this mess and 8th graders don’t go to this school

Seems like Admin does nothing to problem solve situations and they always act like their hands are tied in any situation that they should be able to fix. They lock the boys bathrooms as a way of punishment for not keeping it clean. Great PE class.

This is a lovely school with incredible teachers.i am in the visual arts department, a junior at this school. I have been here for 3 years and throughout that time i have had a lovely experience.ignore the other reviewer.this school is extremely understanding, and so are the teachers of everyone's views.it is much harder to get in now, because apparently they give everyone an audition now. The choosing of who gets in is not 'racist', as there are many students of all races who get into their desired department. In order to get in, you must be exceptionally excellent at your audition and in your portfolio. Race does not account for anything.

I am an incoming sophomore girl and will express my feelings for my school thus far. If you are an incoming freshman to SOTA I highly recommend that you read this detailed review.

This school's intent is benevolent: an arts school makes students enjoy school more. The teachers and art heads put a lot of effort into their jobs. Mr. Payne sends Monday Reminders and is an engaged principal. The SOTA shows are excellent, especially the spring musicals (you must get your tickets fast!). There are many inter-discipline performances, which ties many different mediums together.

However, this school isn't perfect. The campus, although surrounded by lush greenery, is old and unappealing.

You must be careful before trying for this school. There have been records of people losing passion in their art because they had to practice it 2 hours every day. One's art becomes a pain when they are constantly judged by their peers. This happened to me, and it took counselling to diminish my breakdowns. The Wellness Center is super awesome; the staff there are very caring.

Most of my friends come from other departments. Be careful; many juniors and seniors are aloof to freshman. I have two good friends who are incoming seniors, but many people in the grades above me don't treat me as respectfully as I'd like. Just because you're (gasp) an ENTIRE year or two years older than me doesn't mean you're better than me!

There are some students who are rather mean and unfriendly, and some who are very kind. The majority of students are average-neither friendly nor unfriendly.

Homework here is very little or nonexistent. The majority of work to do at home are group projects or finishing stuff up from class.

In freshman year, students either take Dance PE or regular PE. Dance PE involves dancing and choreographing. It is difficult yet thrilling also. Without it, I would have zero dance experience. I am not a dancer, I'm a writer!

I absolutely love my English class, which transcends the norms of the classroom and allows students to participate in illuminated discussion. However not all teachers are good/perfect.

The administrators and Mr. Payne work actively against racism (Don't be racist!), but some of the teachers and the student body is a bit racist. No one is violently racist, but different nationalities have been reported to been treated a bit differently. There is little bullying or aggressive behaviour. Remember, if you see racism, just tell the administrators or the principal. It will surely end. I haven't experienced any racism but know of people who have received it from teachers, and there was one incident which left the community in outrage.

60% of the student body comprises of students of colour as this school is very diverse.

As far as LGBT tolerance, 80% of students are bisexual. Gender expression is fluid here, we have people from all over the spectrum. There are some transgender people too. LGBT people are not treated differently, because we are so common.

Although 8th graders who apply to this school are excited for an upcoming exciting school life, it gets boring pretty fast. Sometimes there are events but I wish more action was taken to make the school less boring. Sometimes teachers teach the material in a murky way. I wish that I could see more of my classmates but there's very few chances to see the entire class at once, and no chances to completely connect with them.

There are definitely cliques and popularity issues. At the beginning of the year everybody is open to have new friends, but groups are finalized by the middle of the year. It is incredibly difficult to talk to new people. If you have a few good friends there is no need to befriend everyone. I have friends but I don't talk to just anybody.

If you encounter bullying or other problems in your art discipline, just try to transfer out of it. Transferring is not recommended but if you are good enough at another art audition for it!

I apologize for the messy writing and sentence structure. I don't usually write this informally.