Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts

What makes this school special

SFUSD's audition-based arts school: admission rides entirely on the audition, not grades or essays
Students commit to one of 15 arts departments and go deep for all four years; academics share the day with serious arts training, taught alongside working professional artists
Not the private arts school: Ruth Asawa SOTA is regularly confused with San Francisco High School of the Arts (HSArts), a small tuition-based independent in the Haight
We have a guide to admissions here: Getting into Ruth Asawa SOTA: auditions and portfolios

Academics

Curriculum

College-prep academics + conservatory arts; students advised to cap APs at four across four years

Advanced coursework

11 AP courses · 1 UC-approved honors course

See the list filed with UC

World languages

Spanish, French

Schedule

Semester

Signature programs

Audition-based arts conservatory — four-year specialization in one of 15 arts pathways
Two-track day — full academics plus daily arts training

College matriculation

UC Berkeley, UCLA, Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, NYU, The Juilliard School, Berklee College of Music, Rhode Island School of Design, California Institute of the Arts

See the full list

UC admissions · For fall 2025 entry

applied: 128
admitted to at least one campus: 102
enrolled at a UC: 53

See UC’s data

What these numbers can and can’t tell you

Athletics, arts & activities

Athletics · CIF San Francisco Section (AAA)

BadmintonBaseballBasketballCheerCross CountryFencingFlag Football (girls)GolfSoccerSwimmingTennisTrack & FieldVolleyball

Arts

Architecture + DesignConservatory DanceWorld DanceCostume + Fashion DesignMedia + FilmConservatory MusicCommercial Music (Electronic Music + Guitar)Vocal Music and Classical PianoWorld MusicTheater (Acting)Musical TheaterTechnical TheaterVisual ArtCreative WritingSpoken Arts

Clubs & activities

Student GovernmentLatinx/e Student UnionMock TrialModel United NationsBlack Student UnionEnvironmental Club

See all clubs

Applying

Key dates

Applications open: October 23, 2026
Application due: December 11, 2026
Audition: January 9, 2027
Assignment letters mailed: Week of March 15, 2027
Accept assignment: March 25, 2027

Tours and events

See the school's schedule

The application

Admission to Ruth Asawa SOTA is by audition, not the citywide lottery. Families list the school on the SFUSD enrollment application by the early-December deadline and audition in a single arts strand; auditions are held in January. San Francisco residency is required.

Application requirements

SFUSD enrollment application (select Ruth Asawa SOTA)
Audition in a single arts department/strand
Audition assignment — seven departments require it uploaded in advance; the rest are performed on audition day
San Francisco residency

Testing

Audition / portfolio

Sources

SFUSD — Ruth Asawa SOTA — address, mission, logo, grades
SFUSD — Admission 2027-28 — audition process, arts pathways, residency, and, on its Dates and Deadlines page, the December 11 application deadline and the January 9, 2027 audition day
SFUSD — Extracurricular Athletics — sports by season and gender (page updated Aug 21, 2026)
NCES Common Core of Data — student:teacher ratio and % students of color (2024-25)
2025-26 census-day enrollment | CDE — enrollment (grades 9-12, the CDEnroll2526 downloadable file)
CA Dept of Education — School Directory — official name, address, grades
Wikipedia — Ruth Asawa SF School of the Arts — founding, arts departments, notable alumni
SFUSD Grading Periods — two-semester (Fall/Spring) structure ("18 weeks in a semester")
Ruth Asawa SOTA 2025-26 School Profile (PDF) — AP courses and four-AP guidance, college profile (class of 2025), matriculation list, graduation rate
SOTA student page and its linked 2022-23 clubs deck (the most recent published) — student government, unions, club examples
SOTA World Language Department | SFUSD — world language (Spanish 1-3, AP Spanish Language)
SFUSD — Arts at Ruth Asawa SOTA — the arts departments/strands
UC A-G course list — Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts — the 2026-27 course list the school files with the University of California: 11 AP courses and 1 UC-approved honors courses beyond AP. The school's own pages count 10 APs; we carry the filed number. The same filing names the languages the school teaches: French, Spanish
Nutrition and school meals | SFUSD — breakfast and lunch at no cost: "School meals will remain free for students in the 26-27 SY"

Details checked September 2026

Ruth Asawa SOTA