About
Foundation
We are FOSOTA / Friends of Ruth Asawa School of the Arts. We’re a nonprofit foundation dedicated to championing arts education and arts-based learning at San Francisco’s groundbreaking public arts high school and beyond. Our community of donors, volunteers, educators, students, alumni, artists, activists, and allies believes in the transformative power of art in the schools. Together we are mighty. Will you join us?
Arts-based education is a research-proven educational model that supports diversity in learning, inspires innovation, and enhances creativity and cognition across all subjects. Not only that, studies have shown that students who practice the arts display higher levels of emotional intelligence, social tolerance, and cultural engagement. As the founders of Turnaround Arts: California asked, “Are any qualities more needed in the United States right now?” *
Our Mission is to champion arts education and arts-based learning through advocacy, outreach, philanthropy, and community.
The Case for Arts Integration
“. . . arts integration may hold unique potential as an educational reform model. . . . [I]t has generated a lot of enthusiasm from classroom teachers, school administrators, and policy researchers for its ability to produce results.
Studies have now documented significant links between arts integration models and academic and social outcomes for students, efficacy for teachers, and school-wide improvements in culture and climate.
Most important, the greatest gains in schools with arts integration are often seen school-wide and also with the most hard-to-reach and economically disadvantaged students.”
— Reinvesting in Arts Education, President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities *
Our History
Founded 24 years ago to manage funds from a benefit concert by Carlos Santana and SOTA students, FOSOTA grew to fundraise and administer nearly $9 million for the school’s arts programming before successfully transitioning that role to the SFUSD in 2018. Since then, FOSOTA has focused its work on access, inclusion, and innovation—helping to make Asawa SOTA a local and national model for arts-based education.
Header image: A taiko drum performance by the World Music students