The Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA) is a public performing arts high school located in Mount Vernon, Baltimore, Maryland, United States and is part of the Baltimore City Public Schools system. Established in 1979, The Baltimore School for the Arts offers art concentrations in vocal music, instrumental music, acting, theater production, dance, visual arts and film. The high school has produced numerous "Presidential Scholars" in the Arts and its students have gone on to attend major conservatories and Ivy League Schools. In 2020, BSA was named a Silver Medal School by the U.S. News & World Report magazine and was ranked 1,173th nationally and 29th in the state of Maryland (first overall in Baltimore City). History In 1979, the President of the Board of School Commissioners authored a Charter creating the Baltimore School for the Arts. In the form of a resolution of the School Board, this Charter followed many years of effort to create an arts high school, including a 1978 recommendation of a special Task Force appointed and given strong support by then Mayor William Donald Schaefer, (1921–2011), [served 1971–1986]; [later Governor of Maryland, 1987–1995, Comptroller of Maryland, 1999–2007]. The BSA was created as part of the Baltimore City Public Schools system, however the charter provided the BSA with the structure and the authority to design and implement policies and programs necessary to be successful in its mission as a pre-professional arts high school. The charter stated "that it differ from other Baltimore city high schools by training students with potential for careers in the performing and visual arts." Mission The Baltimore School for the Arts is a school that intends to prepare its students for careers in the arts. The school provides qualified students with training in one of five arts disciplines: music (vocal/instrumental), visual arts, theatre (acting/stage design and production), dance, or film in combination with a comprehensive, college preparatory academic program. The theater and music majors are split into two groups each: for the theater department, there is both acting and Stage Design and Production, and the music department is split into vocal and instrumental. A further mission of the school is to serve as an arts resource for the Baltimore community by offering performances, educational workshops and extensive after-school training in the arts to Baltimore children. This is offered through a program called TWIGS, which is open to 2nd–8th graders. Arts The Baltimore