Contributed by ASFA
Alabama School of Fine Arts, the state of Alabama’s public college preparatory and arts conservatory-style school, has just opened applications for students in grades 6th-10th for the 2022-23 school year.
Students from across the state are encouraged to apply.
The school offers an advanced Alabama high school diploma with deep-dive instruction by professional faculty. Students qualify via application and audition to enroll in one of six intensive specialty programs: creative writing, dance, mathematics and science, music, theatre and visual arts. Boarding is provided on campus for students living outside the Birmingham metropolitan area.
The Alabama School of Fine Arts — known commonly as ASFA — was created by the legislature in 1971 to provide tuition-free instruction for talented and gifted students from throughout the state. The graduates of the senior class of 2021 of the Alabama School of Fine Arts earned approximately $11.9 million in scholarships and awards. Ninety-seven percent of ASFA seniors were awarded merit scholarships compared to the national average of 15%.
ASFA students are set up for success after graduation with our full-time college counselor who is devoted to helping students and families evaluate schools, understand how to identify the colleges that suit them best and pursue the ones that align with their long-term goals. ASFA students have earned a host of national and state distinctions in arts and academic competitions, in testing, and in acceptances and scholarships from leading conservatories, colleges, universities and performing companies. Graduates have achieved success in a wide range of professions throughout Alabama, the United
States, and abroad. Alumni include writer Suzanne Collins (author of the Hunger Games), actor Laverne Cox (Emmy-nominated actress and advocate), actress Ajiona Alexus (Black Mafia Family, Empire, 13 Reasons Why). Faculty include dancer Wes Chapman (Principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre, former Alabama Ballet director, ASFA Alum), poet Ashley M. Jones (Alabama’s Poet Laureate, author of five books, ASFA alum), musician and conductor Alex Fokkens (Artistic Director and CEO of the Free State Symphony Orchestra) and many others.
Students have an extended school day with morning academic classes and three hours of specialized instruction in the afternoon. A wide range of in-depth courses is available.
Students’ specialty work and performances are on a college and pre-professional level.
ASFA’s culture is equal parts challenging and nurturing. ASFA is a hub for talented people of diverse backgrounds to come together to create, to practice, to perform, to invent and to push themselves further than they ever imagined they could go on their own.
ASFA can house up to 375 students in a complex that consists of studios, classrooms, labs, practice rooms, performance spaces, a library, a cafeteria and dormitory space for up to 80 individuals. The school attracts a diverse student body that reflects Alabama’s demographic makeup. The school recruits and retains students based on preparation, motivation and focus within a chosen specialty.
Applications for enrollment are being accepted until Jan. 28, 2022. For more information visit: www.asfaschool.org/admission.