Tacoma School of the Arts (TSOTA)
Tacoma, Washington

Sustainability Through Synergy
Tacoma School of the Arts (TSOTA) was formed in a highly entrepreneurial fashion, with a non-traditional approach to the learning environment. Serving students in 10th-12th grades, the school is intentionally limited to less than 450 students to foster closer connections between teachers and students. The school is located in 9 different buildings in downtown Tacoma, all within a one-mile radius. Tacoma Public Schools demonstrated vision and resourcefulness by arranging for the use of existing, underutilized downtown historic buildings and nearby facilities in University of Washington Tacoma, Tacoma Art Museum, Washington State History Museum, the Museum of Glass and Broadway Center for the Performing Arts. The school was shaped by the partnerships and settings available.

Now TSOTA is shaping the community as it broadens its focus on providing meaningful experiences for students and citizens alike. TSOT'’s extensive partnerships built around education with other local institutions has led to the formation of the Tacoma Education Consortium, a collective of 30 arts and education institutions whose mission is to know, understand and share resources for educational programming, reduce duplication of services, expand offerings to the public and raise community awareness of available programs. The arts are more invigorated in Tacoma and our community has more ways to connect with education. Otherwise untapped or underutilized resources across the entire community are engaged to create powerful learning experiences that would not be realized without these creative and synergistic partnerships.

> The Chapel of St. Ignatius, Seattle University

 

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