MSA Admissions

As a community within Novato High School, we are both proud Hornets (NHS mascot) and proud Servals (MSA mascot.) In the MSA community, we value creativity, passion, hard-work, and diversity.  Our MSA admission process reflects our desire to continually develop our MSA identity as talented and committed artist scholars that represent the best of the Bay.

Admission to Marin School of the Arts at Novato High School is through an application and audition review process.  Students are accepted both from within the Novato Unified School District and all areas of Marin, Sonoma and surrounding counties through an inter-district transfer process.

During the Fall and Winter, prospective students and their parents are invited to participate in activities that help families understand the breadth and depth of our program offerings including MSA Family Tours and Student Shadow Days.  These activities are offered before beginning the application process (see information below).  Admission to MSA is based on the criteria described on the Audition and Portfolio Requirements page.  No preference is given to where an incoming student lives.

Because Marin School of the Arts is a specialized program within Novato High School for students who are passionate about the arts and may wish to pursue college-level arts training we require students need to maintain over a 2.0 grade point average and good attendance and citizenship. These qualities will be verified after auditions and before communicating an official offer.

We welcome the opportunity to get to know all interested applicants and look forward to either seeing you at a Family Tour or reviewing your application!

The Application Process

Admissions for the 2019-20 school year will open on November 1 and will be closed on January 10, 2019.

Acceptance to the Marin School of the Arts is based primarily on the student’s audition and review of the student’s application by the program faculty. We are looking for students who are passionate about their art form—it is not necessary for applicants to have previous professional training.

Once ALL required application forms have been submitted (see instructions below), applicant families will be contacted to schedule audition(s) for your student’s program(s) of interest.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

1. MSA applications are online and will be open Nov. 1, 2018. Please complete ALL required forms, including:

•ONE: Complete ONE Student Information form per student. Your application is not complete without this form. Please submit this form only once; do not submit multiple copies.

• TWO: Complete at least ONE Program Application form for the arts discipline (MSA program) the student would like to attend. A student may apply for admission to maximum of three MSA programs.

Please do not submit more than one Student Information Form.

2. FINAL APPLICATION DATE:  Tuesday, January 10, 2019, unless otherwise specified.

3. AUDITIONS & PORTFOLIO INTEREVIEWS: February 2-3, 2019, exception Theatre Arts, which will hold auditions on February 9-10. Applicants will be contacted by the MSA program(s) they applied to in order to schedule their audition. Visit the Audition and Portfolio Requirements page for more information about each program’s audition process.

4. FINAL AUDITION DATE: Monday, February 4, 2019

5. NOTIFICATION OF ADMISSION STATUS BEGINS: February 20, 2019

6. LETTERS OF INTENT MUST BE RETURNED TO MSA BY: Friday, March 4, 2019

For additional information or questions contact: MSA Office Manager Terrie Baum at Marin School of the Arts, 625 Arthur, Novato, CA 94947.
 Phone: (415) 892-7915 or email: MSA@nusd.org

MSA Family Tour Days

MSA offers Family Tour Days to give prospective students and their parents a chance to experience all that MSA has to offer. Tours are held from 9:00am —1pm and begin in the Novato High School Library with a brief information session with MSA and NHS administrators followed by a tour of MSA classes in session. Reservations are required to attend a Family Tour Day.

MSA Student Shadow Days

Prospective students who would like a more in-depth experience in their MSA program of interest may request a Student Shadow Day after attending an MSA Family Tour. During Student Shadow Day, prospective students are matched with current MSA students based on their area of interest.  Parents do not attend Student Shadow Days.

The Student Shadow Day schedule will be available soon.

For additional information about MSA programs please visit our MSA Programs section or email MSA Office Manager Terri Baum.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I submit another program application at a later date?

We are currently only able accept additional program application forms for applicants who selected a program on their Student Information Form but neglected to the submit the program application. (See above).

Where is the Product Design Application?

At this time, MSA is unable to offer new applications to the Product Design Program due to space constraints in the Design Center at Novato High School and the inception of the NBI program. Please visit our Product Design Program page for more information.

Can I make changes to previously submitted forms?

Yes. Please contact our systems administrator Karen Vais for assistance.