The Chicago Academy for the Arts is a nationally recognized independent high school for the performing and visual arts.

Designated a National School of Distinction by the John F. Kennedy Center, The Academy offers students the opportunity to engage in a unique co-curricular program: rigorous, college-preparatory academic classes and professional-level arts training in the context of an unparalleled school culture. The Academy’s school day consists of a modified block schedule of three 75-minute blocks of academic courses and a 45-minute flex period followed by a three-plus hour immersion in a student's chosen arts department: Dance, Media Arts (filmmaking, animation, creative writing), Music, Musical Theatre, Theatre, and Visual Arts. At The Chicago Academy for the Arts, young artists master the skills necessary for academic success, critical thought, and creative expression.

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More about the Academy Educational Model

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Quick Facts

The Academy is among the top-ranked private schools and is the #1 arts high school in Illinois (Niche, 2022).
The 210 graduates from 2017 to 2022 earned nearly $47 million in college scholarships and gained admission to the nation’s best colleges, universities, and conservatories, from CalArts to Juilliard; from Stanford to Princeton.
Students participate in more than 100 productions throughout the course of the school year, including concerts, plays, readings, screenings, recordings, and exhibitions.
Academy students routinely outperform their peers in standardized testing. 2020 and 2021 Academy graduates scored an ACT Composite average of 24.7, 18% higher than the national average.
Academy students demonstrate high readiness for college (as demonstrated on the ACT exam), eclipsing national “college readiness” averages in every category. The percentage of Academy graduates meeting all four college readiness benchmarks was 127% higher than the national average. Read more about academics at The Academy here.
53% of Academy students commute from outside of the City of Chicago.
About 2/3 of Academy graduates go on to careers in the arts, while 1/3 pursue the sciences, the humanities, business, and more.