The Tacoma School of the Arts is the only arts school in the greater Tacoma, Washington, area. SOTA historically only housed grades 10 through 12, but beginning in the 2012 school year, it began admitting students in the 9th grade as well. SOTA's student capacity is around 600 students. SOTA was established in the fall of 2001, with help from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Classes are housed in multiple venues across downtown Tacoma, in buildings that have historically served many purposes—including a department store, a music store, and a dance studio. SOTA and SAMi also offer University of Washington Credits through multiple classes and beginning in 2014 offer over 20 College in the High School classes for credit through Tacoma Community College. SOTA was one of three Washington state school winners of the inaugural state Schools of Excellence in Arts Education Award, part of the national program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Schools of Distinction in Arts Education Awards. Shortly after, SOTA was one of only four schools in the inaugural year to win at the national level.
Students
Many SOTA projects are student-run, including some aspects of the school's administration. Students have directed theatrical productions including The Glass Menagerie and The Last of the Darling Brent Girls, the latter also written by a student. Departments offered include those of the Visual Arts and those of the Performing Arts.
Daily life and academics
The school day is arranged to have four periods a day, in block periods over the week. Mondays and Wednesdays at SOTA students attend periods 1-4, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays students attend periods 5-8. There are 20 minute passing periods, as classes are held in over 10 different buildings and businesses. Three of these buildings are owned by Tacoma Public Schools and they are all within one square mile. Some classes are housed in the University of Washington Tacoma, Tacoma Art Museum and the Broadway Center for the Performing Arts. Annual events include mentor day in the park, and SOTA Camp.
Student opportunities
In 2008, SOTA created its own FIRST FRC team with the help of Team 360 from Bellarmine Preparatory School. They are FIRST FRC team 2557, the SOTABots. Their first year, the SOTABots came in second, won Rookie of the Year in the FIRST Microsoft Seattle Regional, and went on to get 22nd place in their division in the Atlanta International Competition. Since 2008, the SOTABots have won the Microsoft Seattle Regional in 2010, the Seattle Cascade Regional in 2012, and multiple awards for their Gracious Professionalism and their safety practices.
Several SOTA buildings were used in the film 10 Things I Hate About You; the guitar store in the film is now part of the SOTA music department, as well as Club SOTA, an all-ages club hosted by the school.
Sister schools
The Tacoma Science and Math Institute, or SAMI, opened for the 2009-2010 school year. Industrial Design, Engineering, and Arts, also known as IDEA was opened in the 2016-2017 school year. They are both the district's other magnet schools, with a schedule and concept similar to SOTA.
