The mission of OSA is to provide students with intensive conservatory-style training in the arts while maintaining a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum.

OSA Community --

On March 9 and 10, I delivered the State of the School address to the families and stakeholders of the OSA community. I am gratified at your response to my message of hope and challenge, and I am confident that together we will accelerate into the next phase of OSA's evolution.
The slides from the presentation are linked here.
As we designated 2009-2010 as the year of "Raising the Bar," we are now looking ahead to 2010-2011 as our time to "Defy Gravity." What an inspirational thought! There is no community better poised to achieve the impossible. We have already defied conventional wisdom by keeping OSA alive through its exciting, yet tumultuous, infancy. Now we are moving into a new era of excellence, collaboration and wisdom that will establish OSA as a vital, integral Oakland institution.
I would like to thank those of you who heard our message and made contributions to the school. As I had stated, our fiscal health is one of the foundations of our success and together we are making it happen. I am so extraordinarily proud to be your educational leader and we are honored that you entrust your children to us. We are committed to their success, to nurturing their creativity, and to producing the innovative leaders of tomorrow.

Donn K. Harris
Executive Director
Artistic Director
Oakland School for the Arts

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Superintendent Sheila Jordan invites you to attend Everyday Heroes in History A Special Evening with Claudette Colvin VIP Reception VIP Reception: Friday, March 19 4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Oakland School for the Arts 530 18th Street, Oakland, CA Tickets $15 Space is limited. RESERVE YOUR SEATS NOW to ensure a spot at this great event. Claudette Colvin hailed from Alabama, and in 1955, at the age of 15, she refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus to a white person, in violation of local law. Her arrest preceded that of Rosa Parks' by nine months. "Young people think Rosa Parks just sat down on a bus and ended segregation, but that wasn't the case at all," Ms. Colvin said in an interview with author Philip Hoose. "Maybe by telling my story - something I was afraid to do for a long time - kids will have a better understanding about what the civil rights movement was about." Following the VIP Reception, please join us from 5:30- 7:30 p.m. Ms. Claudette Colvin in conversation with Enid Lee Book signing to follow Special Introduction by Dr. Clayborne Carson Cultural Performances: North Oakland Community Charter School & Awele Makeba First Youth Empowerment Award: Facing History and Ourselves! For more information, contact (510) 670-7754, send us an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or go to the History Day 2010 website.

THUR, MAR. 11, 7pm           OSA presents "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.'
FRI, MAR. 12, 7pm              OSA presents "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.'
SAT, MAR. 13, 2pm & 7pm    OSA presents "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.'
SUN, MAR. 14, 2pm             OSA presents "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.'
FRI, MAR. 19, 4:30pm         A Special Evening with Claudette Colvin VIP Reception (Reserve seats now.)

OSA was selected as a California Distinguished School by the CDE in 2009.

OSA is fully accredited by the Schools Commission of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

OSA is a member of the National Arts Schools Network.
OSA is a member of the National Association for College Admission Counseling
OSA is affiliated with the Music National Service Initiative.