Students must currently reside in the Vancouver Public Schools boundary in order to apply during this window. When the entire in-district applicant wait list has been exhausted, then we will contact out-of-district applicants for the next steps. 

VSAA makes every effort to maintain the student population of the school. If space becomes available at any grade level during the course of the school year, the waiting list will be reviewed. Invitations to VSAA will be extended on a space-available basis.

There is a waiting list at each grade level based upon the number of applicants and the availability that VSAA can offer. Applicants will stay on the waiting list for one year, after which they need to submit a new application for the next school year.

We always have a large number of applicants at every grade level. In recent years, we accepted approximately 100 students of the 350 who showed interest at the sixth-grade level. In grades 7-12 there are fewer applicants, but less availability as a majority of VSAA students stay for all seven years.

There are no guarantees for acceptance. Throughout the process, every effort is made to discover students who would be successful in the VSAA culture.

Applicants need to be diligent in getting all components of the application in by the deadline. Please see Dates to Know (scroll up–it’s to the right) for important dates. Applicants must attend their assigned interview and workshop activities.

Students will have the opportunity to experience each art form (visual art, dance, literary arts, theatre, moving image arts and music) at an introductory level and advance in subsequent years to a higher level.

The foundation for acceptance is not based on talent, but on willingness to explore all art forms that VSAA offers each student. Previous art experiences are just as valued as current arts experiences.

Once applicants have applied and been accepted, they do not have to reapply in the following years. If a student does not get accepted on the first try, they are encouraged to reapply the following school year.

High School applicants who live outside the Vancouver Public Schools boundary are invited to apply. However, preference will be given to students residing within our school district’s geographic boundary.

If the entire list of in-district applicants has been exhausted, students from out of district would be considered for placement. Students residing outside of Washington state are ineligible to apply.