Oakland School for the Arts Find Your Voice

To comply with CDC guidelines and regulations regarding COVID-19, we will be unable to offer in-person Open House or School Tours this year. In their place, we invite you to explore our school through our website, this brief video tour, and through our Virtual Open Houses.  
 
Oakland School for the Arts is inviting parents and prospective students to join us on the following dates: 
 
November 18, 2021 (Presentation here)
December 16, 2021
from 5-7 pm

Please sign up to attend one of our virtual Open House events here.

OSA is phasing out auditions over the next four years. Incoming 6th and 7th graders are entered through a lottery system without auditions. Applications for all incoming 6th and 7th graders are available through the Oakland Enrolls charter school online application platform. The link will be live on November 15, 2021 and will be available here. 

The lottery for incoming grades 6 & 7 will be held February 18, 2022. No results will be announced at that time. Placement results will be available through the Oakland Enrolls Student Dashboard on March 10, 2022.  At that time you would either receive an offer of enrollment or be placed on the school’s waitlist.

 

Oakland School for the Arts is a free, public school chartered by Oakland Unified School District. OSA does not discriminate in admissions on the basis of race, color, creed, disability, learning differences, ethnicity, national origin, gender/gender identity, home language, sexual orientation, religious or spiritual practice.

The Application Submission Window for the 2022-23 School Year has now passed for students interested in grades 8-12 for the 2022-23 school year. The deadline to apply for these grades was December 17, 2021.

 
Students applying for 8-12th grade are entered into OSA's enrollment lottery based on an audition. The Audition Portal is here; this is also where applicants can upload portfolio materials ahead of time as needed per their specific audition requirements.
 
Auditions for the 2022-23 academic year will take place on February 5, 2022 for those who have submitted an application by the December 17, 2022 deadline. OSA hosts one audition date for all those who have applied by our deadline. All auditions require advance preparation, please see our Audition Requirements page for details by program.
 
Applicants may audition for one or two different arts programs, although one arts program must be selected if the student is accepted to both. The audition is designed to identify students with demonstrated interest, aptitude and potential in one of ten art programs. The audition only evaluates artistic skill & potential; academic grades are not a factor. Applicants are evaluated based on a standard for each art program. Applicants are never evaluated against each other. Letters of recommendation are not accepted. Please read the Enrollment Process for more information. A back up date will be provided if the number of applications exceeds the number of available audition slots. Information about location and audition appointment times will be sent two weeks before the audition. 
 
OSA often has more applicants than available seats. When the number of applicants in a particular program exceeds the available seats at grade level, the students are selected based on OSA's enrollment lottery. Selection of students who are invited to enroll is determined by the lottery; no other factors are considered. 
 
The Lottery Date for 2022-23 applicants (applying for grades 8-12 in the 2022-23 school year) will be posted soon, and the lottery will be held at the OSA Student Center. No results will be announced at that time. The results will be mailed out the second week of March 2022. 

Oakland School for the Arts is a free, public school chartered by Oakland Unified School District. OSA does not discriminate in admissions on the basis of race, color, creed, disability, learning differences, ethnicity, national origin, gender/gender identity, home language, sexual orientation, religious or spiritual practice.