302 S. 9th St.
Apply to SOTA
Application for SAMI, SOTA and IDEA is open
The application for SAMI, SOTA and IDEA will be available in ParentVUE from Oct. 20, 2025, through Jan. 11, 2026. This application is for in-district and/or out-of-district students who would like to apply to attend SAMI, SOTA, or IDEA starting the 2026-27 school year. If your child is not currently enrolled in TPS, you must create a new ParentVUE account.
Information Nights at SOTA, SAMI, and IDEA
All Dates are 6-7 PM
| Date | School | Location | Address |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday, October 21, 2025 | IDEA | Product Realization Lab (PRL) | 6701 South Park Avenue Tacoma, WA 98404 |
| Wednesday, October 22, 2025 | SOTA | SOTA Theater | 1117 Commerce Street Tacoma, WA 98405 |
| Thursday, October 23, 2025 | SAMI | Environmental Learning Center | 5715 Animal Road Tacoma, WA 98407 |
| Tuesday, November 18, 2025 | IDEA | Product Realization Lab (PRL) | 6701 South Park Avenue Tacoma, WA 98404 |
| Wednesday, November 12, 2025 | SOTA | SOTA Theater | 1117 Commerce Street Tacoma, WA 98405 |
| Thursday, November 20, 2025 | SAMI | Environmental Learning Center | 5715 Animal Road Tacoma, WA 98407 |
| Monday, December 8, 2025 | SAMI | Pagoda at Point Defiance | 5801 Trolley Ln Tacoma, WA 98407 |
| Tuesday, December 9, 2025 | IDEA | Product Realization Lab (PRL) | 6701 South Park Avenue Tacoma, WA 98404 |
| Wednesday, December 10th, 2025 | SOTA | SOTA Music Box |
302 S 9th Street Tacoma 98402 |
Why SOTA
The Tacoma School of the Arts opened in the Fall of 2001 in downtown Tacoma. The school’s proximity to cultural organizations like the Museum of Glass, Tacoma Art Museum, and Tacoma Arts Live provides opportunities for students to engage in the local visual and performing arts community. Classes are taught through the lens of art, and students choose a major in the visual or performing arts.
SOTA is committed to integration: we want students to see their learning, their world, and their lives whole. Thus we seek to help students make connections within academic disciplines, between the academics and the arts, between their lives now and their lives as they enter the larger global community in a very few years. With this holistic vision firmly in mind, we also believe students deserve the opportunity to go deep – to develop and pursue a particular passion at increasingly greater depth, guided by mentors in our community who can encourage excellence.
![Performing Arts]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1637107395/tacomak12waus/cnxl3p0szbitufx0ijlt/SOTA_Apply-3.png","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1637107395/tacomak12waus/cnxl3p0szbitufx0ijlt/SOTA_Apply-3.png","width":380}])
The Performing Arts Department at SOTA is committed to providing pre-professional training which imaginatively balances theory and practice, and is based on a quality liberal arts foundation.
![Visual Arts]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1699031280/tacomak12waus/pizhrmew7wucdbjl3whc/SOTAGrads23-3.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1699031280/tacomak12waus/pizhrmew7wucdbjl3whc/SOTAGrads23-3.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_3/v1699031280/tacomak12waus/pizhrmew7wucdbjl3whc/SOTAGrads23-3.jpg","width":800},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_4/v1699031280/tacomak12waus/pizhrmew7wucdbjl3whc/SOTAGrads23-3.jpg","width":1200},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_5/v1699031280/tacomak12waus/pizhrmew7wucdbjl3whc/SOTAGrads23-3.jpg","width":1600},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_6/v1699031280/tacomak12waus/pizhrmew7wucdbjl3whc/SOTAGrads23-3.jpg","width":2200}])
The Visual Arts Department at SOTA is an academically challenging program created to help students develop their own style through a carefully designed curriculum.
![Unique Learning Environment]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1637107395/tacomak12waus/ujmceeosegapjcklwado/SOTA_Apply-5.png","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1637107395/tacomak12waus/ujmceeosegapjcklwado/SOTA_Apply-5.png","width":380}])
The unique environment encourages students to take ownership of their education and become an integral part of the community.
SOTA in Action
Programs & Activities at SOTA
Classes are taught through the lens of art, and students choose a major in the visual or performing arts.
The Visual Arts Department at SOTA is an academically challenging program created to help students develop their own style through carefully designed curriculum. Courses are taken in sequence, one each semester of the freshman and sophomore year beginning with the required basic Drawing and Foundation classes. After completion, students may then elect to pursue Photography, Graphic Design, Filmmaking, Advanced Illustration, or Painting. Each area of study contains its own sequence of courses, integrating beginning and advanced students as both teacher and learner.
The Performing Arts Department at SOTA is committed to providing pre-professional training which imaginatively balances theory and practice, and is based on a quality liberal arts foundation. Through classroom study, studio preparation, and productions and performances, students are encouraged to pursue a commitment to individual excellence and collaboration, a passion for their discipline, and to develop a firm grounding in all aspects of live and mediated performance.