Bak Middle School of the Arts

Bak Middle School of the Arts is a public middle school (Grades 6-8) School Choice (magnet) middle school in West Palm Beach, just south of Mangonia Park, Florida.^[1] Part of the School Choice program of the School District of Palm Beach County students apply annually and must audition in all areas for acceptance. Students from the immediate "zone" around the school are given preference.

Art Areas

Students may audition for up to two of five art areas, and are accepted for one:

• Communications
• Dance
• Music - Band
• Music - Piano
• Music - Orchestra (Strings)
• Music - Vocal
• Theater (Drama)
• Visual Arts (Fine Arts)

Academics

Students at Bak Middle School of the Arts are among the highest-scoring in the state on yearly academic assessments.^[2] The school participates in the Duke TIP program, and the National Junior Honor Society^[3]

Service

Students come from all over Palm Beach County for open auditions annually. U. B. Kinsey / Palmview Elementary School is a feeder elementary arts school for BAK. BAK develops talent and serves as a feeder school to both the performing and visual arts high school, the Dreyfoos School of the Arts and G-Star School Of The Arts, a school choice school which focuses on film, television, and digital media.

Arts

BAK Middle School of the Arts students perform and compete regionally, statewide, and nationally.

Music

BAK is one of the top schools represented annually at both the Florida Bandmasters Association (FBA) District 14 honor bands, orchestras, and choirs, as well as at the Florida Music Educators Association (FMEA) All-State middle school honors bands, orchestras, and choirs. In January, 2014 a BAK student became one of the first members of the inaugural Middle School All-State Jazz Band. At the Heritage Festival in Boston, in 2014, BAK's Orchestra surpassed high school bands and earned top honors. Their concert band took top honors in March 2015 at a Heritage Festival in San Diego, California.

History

In 1989, the School District of Palm Beach County, Florida, facing mandatory desegregation of its schools ^[4] implemented a magnet school program instead, to voluntarily attract white students to predominantly African-American neighborhood schools. North Shore High School in West Palm Beach was converted into the Palm Beach County School of the Arts in 1990. The Palm Beach County School of the Arts opened as a middle school with 250 students, grades 7-9, enrolled. The school focused on five arts areas: Communication arts, dance, music, theatre, and visual arts. The school was expanded by adding a new 7th grade class. In 1994 the school was a middle and high school with students from grades 7 through 12. The need to separate the schools into proper middle and high schools was facilitated by Alexander W. Dreyfoos, Jr., a wealthy patron who made a pledge of $1,000,000 in support to build a new high school of the performing arts on the closed campus of Palm Beach Central High School in 1997.^[5] In 1998, the high school was moved to the new campus, and the existing facility was renamed the Middle School of the Arts.

In 2002, the school was renamed the Bak Middle School of the Arts. Mrs. Dora Bak of Palm Beach donated $1.5 million bequest to the school to honor her late husband, Dr. Richard Bak, who was a renowned economist and statistician, specializing in international markets, finance and economics.^[6]

In 2007, the original buildings were demolished and a new, state-of-the-art facility was built on the same grounds.

References