Boston Arts Academy

Boston Arts Academy was founded in 1998 when a committed group of educators, parents, and public officials recognized the need for a public arts high school in Boston. The original BAA school building at 174 Ipswich Street was housed in a 100-year-old former warehouse, directly across the street from the historic Fenway Park. For many years BAA shared this building with Fenway High School, where space limitations forced our students to rehearse in hallways, take classes in under-sized studios, and do without an onsite stage or auditorium. In September 2015, Fenway High School relocated to a new building, but the aging building still did not fully support our dual arts and academic curriculum. It was not the facility our students, faculty and staff needed, or deserved.

In December 2017, the City of Boston and Commonwealth of Massachusetts unanimously approved $125 million to build a state-of-the-art facility at 174 Ipswich Street. Rather than requiring students to practice in hallways or faculty to share classrooms, the new facility will provide better rehearsal studios, high-tech fashion and fine art studios, a cutting-edge STEAM (STEM + Arts) laboratory, a rooftop recital hall, and professional theatres. The new BAA school building is expected to be completed by Spring 2022 and will open for students for the 2022-2023 school year.

In February 2021 Mayor Martin J. Walsh, City and state officials, and members of the Boston Arts Academy Foundation, along with Boston Arts Academy representatives, raised the final steel beam into place to complete the structure of the new building. In the days prior to this Topping Off ceremony, BAA students decorated the beam with their artwork and many BAA teachers, administrators, school officials, caregivers, alumni, and community leaders contributed notes, forever embedding their messages into the steelwork of the school itself.