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Happy Birthday BAA!
Give the gift of opportunity: donate today to Boston Arts Academy for its 25th Birthday!
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On October 7, 1998, Boston Arts Academy opened its door as a pilot school, serving as a pathway to success for low-income urban students who might not otherwise have access to a formal arts and college-preparatory education. 25 years later, BAA has influenced the cultural fabric of Boston and changed the lives of over 2,000 alumni.
This year, during BAA's 25th year, BAA finally moved into its brand-new school building in Fenway. The building features a 500-seat professional theatre, STEAM lab, pin-up gallery, rooftop terrace, multiple dance studios, and more.
While BAA’s new school building will help us permanently close opportunity gaps for more of Boston’s students, it will not change the school’s existing funding model: Boston Public Schools pays for Boston Arts Academy’s core academic curriculum, and BAA Foundation funds the school’s arts curriculum as well as academic and social-emotional support services. Enhancing the school’s financial sustainability is more critical than ever.
With support from friends like you during our 25th year, we can ensure that the students have the resources they need to achieve their full potential.
Help us keep the arts ALIVE by gifting $25, $250, $2,500, $25,000 or more to be recognized in The BAAF Anniversary Club!
Give the gift of opportunity to more students like Ariya!
The BAAF Anniversary Club: Sponsor Benefits
Thank you to our 25th Anniversary Club Donors:
Freshman Level Sponsors
Anonymous (4)
Jonathan Abbott and Shari Malyn
Jennifer H. Adler and Seth Albaum
David Ager
Randy Albelda
Dorothee Alsentzer
Paul Antonelli
Raney Aronson
Arlene S. Ash
Grace Baljon
Jorge Andrés Ballesteros
Betsy Bard
Barricklo Family
Joy Bautista
Beate Becker
Deborah Belle
Linda Berg
Gerald Bergstein
Jimmy Bierman
Dean Bingham
Christopher Binns
Martyn Bridgeman
Todd and Trish Carey
Levi Carpenter
Bithiah Carter
Carole Charnow
Libby Chiu and Peter Murray
Maha Chourafa
Stephen Churchill
Denella J. Clark
Laurie Contrino
Susan and Dana DiMarzo
Mary Driscoll and Luke Hill
Susan Duncker
Caitlin and Jack Durkin
Linda Durkin
Thomas Durkin
Mary Eich
David and April Felton
Mark and Lucille Fisher
Marlene Francis
Edmund Barry Gaither
Danielle Galligan
Michelle Golden and Helen Onthank
Marisela Gomez
Molly Hanrahan
Annie and Andrew Hayes
Virginia Hecker
Kathy Heger-Rivera
Albert Holland
Ekua Holmes
Thomas and Sonja Hout
Samuel Hughes
Dr. Janice E. Jackson
Amy and Minai Kam
Bernice Katz
Mary Keyes
Nina Kimball, Esq.
Susan Lambert
Bill Lasser
Regina and James Lawson
Peter Libby
Heather Long
Daniel Maloof
Kathleen Maloof
Alexandria Malvo
Nicole R. Manny
John and Kathleen Marsh
John Matthews
Joyce and Thomas McCusker
Ceasar and Solmaz McDowell
Scotta McFarland
James McQueen
Nana and Antoine Melay, Jr.
Jonathan and Jacqueline Melick
Dea Moore
Catherine Morris
John Mudd
Roxanna Myhrum
Jim Neenan
Emily Neustadt
Margaretta Olton
Elissa Parker
Kristine Patterson
William Perkins and Mary Battenfeld
Kymberly Pinder
Sandra Quispe
James and Marchelle Raynor
Avery Rimer and Richard Weissbourd
Molly Jo and Christopher Rivelli
Kay George Roberts
April Romano
Abby Rosenberg
Nicole Roth
Mary Rutkowski and Gideon Ansell
George Savage
Emmett Schaefer
Richard and Diane Schmalensee
James V. Schober
Jasmine Sessoms
Mara Sidmore and Cameron Willard
Harvey Silvergate and Elsa Dorfman
Jill Slosburg-Ackerman
Benjamin and Judith Smith
Janaki Stern
Rosalind Thomas-Clark
Brittany Thomas
Natalia Urtubey
Robert and Gina Wahlberg
Emily Wilson
Katherine B. Winter
Jennifer and Christopher Wright
Owen and Valerie Young
Gina Zalewski
Virginia and Mark Zanger
Sophomore Level Sponsors
Anonymous (2)
Debi and Ashley Adams
Laura Alpert
Laurie Alpert and Barry Weiss
Arreen Andrew
Elizabeth Awalt
Claire Barker
Nancy Bauer
Jonathan and Maggie Baxter
Lorraine Bigrigg
Jamie Buckner
Pamela Butz and Jeffrey Klug
Ilene Carver
Catherine Tan Chan
Fernadina Chan
Petrina and Kevin Cherry
Gale K. and Peter S. Constable
Peter Crook
Elizabeth and David Curtis
Anne D. Emerson
David Engvall
Iris and Robert Fanger
Michael Felsen
Judith and John Felton
Matthew and Judith Fichtenbaum
First Church of Christ, Scientist
Bill and Joyce Fletcher
Christian Flynn and Dan Schutt
Lynda Fraley and Jim Elliott
The Goldberg Family Foundation
Molly and Jeff Goodman
Kenneth J. Gordon
Robyn Gottschall
Gregory Groover, Jr.
Graham and Ann Gund
Daniel Guttman
Dawn Curtis Hanley
Consuelo and John Isaacson
The Lewis Family
Susan Heideman and Fred Hapgood
William Henchy
B. Thomas Henry
Sharon Hessney
Linda and Tim Holiner
Greg Holt
Sherry Horn
Leigh and Doug Hurd
Charmain Jackman and Jeff Lahens
Michael Kitchen
Barbara Krakow
Martin and Beth Kramer
Geraldine S. Kunstadter
James and Anne LaPlante
Anita Lauricella
Dylan Leavitt and Michael Libert
Claire Levesque
Bara Levin
Sanford Levinson
Lisa Lobel
Dr. Yndia Lorick-Wilmot and Damian Wilmot
Julie and Christopher Lovell
Doris Lowy and Paul Zigman
Arnold Reisman and Paula Lyons
Adonis Martin
Pam McDermott
Rita and Patrick McGeary
Daniel E. Melick
Leah and John Morris
Ignacio Martinez and Victoria Moule
Scott Murphy
Barry and Deirdre Nectow
Dr. David Nelson and Kimberly Nelson
James Packer and Martha Kramer
Ellen Payzant
Kristine Piaatt
Jonathan Pucker
Hilary Field Respass
Chris Rifkin
Rivermoor Engineering
Christine Rose
Caroline and Peter Schanzer
David and Marie Louise Scudder
Jana Silsby
Colleen Smith
Leah Solomon
David and Ginni Spencer
Kristen Standish
Emilie D. Steele
Debbie and Theodore Sturman
Dan and Leslie Sullivan
Rick Tagliaferri and Jill Mackavey
Ben and Kate Taylor
Pamela Taylor
Teddy Shoes
Maura Tighe and Paul Gattuso
Andrew Toland
Steven Tompkins
Edwin Truman
Mary and Charles Vadala
Rosamond Vaule
Vivian and André Ward
David Warner
Beth Warren
Flora and Robert Watson
John and Kathleen Weaver
Jerry Wheelock and Elizabeth Wood
Celeste and Scott Wilson
Jerry and Elizabeth Wood
Cora Yamagata
Junior Level Sponsors
Anonymous (1)
Alchemy Foundation
Corinne Anne Basler
Gordon, Liza and Robbie Bemis, in memory of Jane Marrow
Jason and Neathery Brenzel
Kevin and Julie Callaghan
Sandra Gordon
Dr. Mark Leiserson and Robin Socol
Christine and David Letts
Steven and Cynthia Meyers
Elizabeth and Robert Pozen
Suzanne and Peter Read
Steve Vondran
Senior Level Sponsors
25th Anniversary Club Donors listing was updated as of April 12, 2023.
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Who Is BAA?
A Look Back at BAA’s History
1998 | Boston Arts Academy was Founded
Boston Arts Academy was founded when a committed group of educators, parents, and public officials as well as the presidents of the member colleges of Boston’s ProArts Consortium recognized the need for a public arts high school in Boston. BAA was established as a pilot school and the city’s first full inclusion high school – a place that admits students based solely on arts auditions without regard to prior academic, behavioral, or learning challenges.
2005 | Award-Winning Summer Reading Program was Launched
BAA launched its award-winning literacy intervention program, Summer Reading, which has since served over 400 BAA students and trained dozens of teachers, interns from local colleges and universities, and volunteers.
2009 | BAA won the National Schools of Distinction in Arts Education Award
BAA won the National Schools of Distinction in Arts Education Award from the Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education.
2013 | BAA was recognized as the Outstanding Arts School by the Arts School Network
BAA was recognized as the Outstanding Arts School by the Arts School Network.
2014 | BAA's First-Ever STEAM Lab was Established
The STEAM Lab was opened to establish a maker space/artists’ studio/fabrication laboratory so students could explore the connections between the arts, science, and math, while incorporating new technology into their projects.
2015 | BAA was featured in Ken Robinson’s Book about Creative Schools
BAA was featured in Ken Robinson’s book, Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution that’s Transforming Education.
2016 | BAA was a Silver Recognition Recipient from the Schools of Opportunity
BAA was a Silver Recognition Recipient from the Schools of Opportunity and won the Signature Enterprise Schools Award from the GRAMMY Foundation.
2018 | BAA's Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Building of the New School
Ground was broken July 1 for construction of a new $125 million facility at 174 Ipswich Street, leading to relocation of both Boston Arts Academy and the Boston Arts Academy Foundation.
Watch here: Boston Arts Academy Groundbreaking - YouTube
2021 | Topping Off Ceremony, Completing the Structure of the New School
Mayor Martin J. Walsh and City Council President Kim Janey, city and state officials, and members of BAA and the BAA Foundation, raised the final steel beam into place to complete the structure of the new building in a Topping Off Ceremony. Prior to the ceremony, BAA students, caregivers, faculty, staff, and community leaders wrote notes and decorated the beam, forever embedding their messages in to the steelwork of the school itself.
Watch here: Boston Arts Academy Topping-Off Ceremony - YouTube
2022 | Grand Opening of the New 174 Ipswich, and BAA Celebrates 25 Years!
The fall of 2022 will mark the Grand Opening of the new Boston Arts Academy school building in the Fenway, and the school's 25th Anniversary since its original opening!
Donate to celebrate this big year for BAA.
Join us on October 8 for the Grand Opening, during BAA Honors 2022.
A 25th Anniversary Year In Review (so far):
Here are 25 Photos of 25 Opportunities YOU created by supporting Boston Arts Academy Foundation for BAA's 25th Anniversary!
A photo is worth a thousand words. These photos speak volumes on how you've made an impact, and there's still time to join us in making this celebratory year even more special. By donating $25 or more, you'll join the BAAF 25th Anniversary Club!
Donate