Founded in 1979, the Baltimore School for the Arts was the product of an unusual public-private partnership from the very start, with its charter approved by the Baltimore City School Board and a separate foundation launched to raise funds to supplement an annual school system budget.  Its founders envisioned a school that would differ from other Baltimore high schools by training students with potential for careers in the performing and visual arts.

Today, the school has gained significant private support from many individuals, foundations and corporations, including the T. Rowe Price Associates Foundation, Wieler Family Foundation, Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, Marion I. & Henry J. Knott Foundation, Joseph & Harvey Meyerhoff Family Charitable Funds, Reginald F. Lewis Foundation and the Middendorf Foundation.

"The Baltimore School for the Arts helped pave the way for private philanthropic investment in the Baltimore City public school system" says Jan Rivitz, Executive Director of the Aaron Straus & Lillie Straus Foundation, which also provides funding support for the school.  "Mark Joseph, who chaired the school board when the school was founded, had the foresight and wisdom to know that a public school with an arts conservatory model would have expenses that would far exceed what the system could cover."

The school offers a level playing field for students from all over the city and some surrounding counties who demonstrate artistic talent, while setting high standards that all students must meet. Students are selected on the basis of auditions and not academic performance, but in order to graduate, they must successfully meet rigorous standards in academics as well as the arts.

School enrollment has grown from just 68 students in its first year to 323 in the current school year. The student body is culturally, racially, and socio-economically diverse, and graduates can be found on Broadway, in television, films, nationally known dance companies, orchestras and design firms as well as in business, human services and education. 

The school also serves the community through its TWIGS (To Work in Gaining Skills) program, providing free after-school and Saturday classes for Baltimore City children with limited access to arts education in their schools.

Funders of all sizes have an interest in investing in the school, and given that Jada Pinkett Smith is a graduate of the school, it's no surprise that family foundations like the Will & Jada Smith Family Foundation are strong supporters!