Mission & History

The Mission of Our Foundation

The Middle School of the Arts Foundation’s is a 501c3 organization whose mission is to raise the funding needed to provide Bak Middle School of the Arts with the resources, opportunities, and experiences required for the highest quality arts enriched education.

Bak Middle School of the Arts is a nationally recognized public middle school serving an average of 1,300 students per year in sixth through eighth grades. It is part of the District of Palm Beach County Choice Program. Students apply to audition for one of eight art areas including Band, Communications, Dance, Piano, Strings, Theatre, Visual Arts, and Vocal. Demographically, the school serves students geographically from throughout all of Palm Beach County, is 70% female, 30% male, 55% minority, and nearly 40% of the school’s population qualifies for free or reduced lunch. Academically, Bak has been ranked as the highest achieving middle school in the county for over twenty years, and top five in the State of Florida for the last ten years. It has been named a Florida Department of Education Middle School of Excellence, ranking top three for the last seven years, and has received the National Blue-Ribbon Award as an Exemplary High Performing School. The Middle School of the Arts Foundation’s presence and funding is imperative to the preservation of the school.

A notable component of Bak’s arts curriculum is the opportunity for students to work with local and national arts professionals who provide one-time master classes, week-long residencies, and year-long individual and small group instruction throughout all art areas. To aid in funding this essential element, the MSOA Foundation created our Wish List Program which provides over 50% of the funding necessary for these professionals and also provides funds for art area specific supplies, needs, and technology.

Since 2012, the MSOA Foundation has provided over $2.5 million dollars to enhance the arts programs and curriculum at Bak. Specialized instruction is provided for all musical instruments. Experts in strings, percussion, brass, woodwinds, and piano work to maximize each student’s individual artistic potential. Vocal students receive one-on-one private vocal lessons as part of their arts curriculum. Renowned Dance artists from the American Ballet Theatre, American Dance Legacy Institute, Jon Lehrer Dance Company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Limón Dance Company, and the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes have provided residencies and master classes. In Theatre, the MSOA Foundation provides funding for an Artist in Residence that teaches theatre as an elective to non-theatre students, affording students additional opportunities for arts exploration. Guest Artists are funded to assist with individual theatrical productions and competition coaching. Well known producers, journalists, comic book artists, storytellers, and even alumni, many who are now arts industry professionals, have graced the halls of Bak, through the MSOA Foundation, all with the goal of enriching the arts education experience for the students we serve.

This program is vital to Bak’s artistic success and has led to the students receiving countless awards, accolades, and invitations to perform in renowned venues throughout the nation. For the 2023-2024 school year, students have been invited to perform at Carnegie Hall, the Chicago Symphony, Steinway in New York City, the American Choral Director’s Regional Conference, and the State Junior International Thespian Competition. Students will also be traveling to the Festival of the Arts at Epcot, to engage with national and international artists, exposing them to a multitude of mediums and varying techniques. In addition to funds, the Foundation works to secure donations for high-quality instruments, professional caliber supplies, and arts specific machinery and technology to fulfill unfunded needs.

Without the support of the MSOA Foundation, Bak would not cease to exist. The school, however, would not have the financial support needed for the resources, opportunities, and experiences that have contributed to creating and maintaining a public arts middle school recognized at the state and national levels for their excellence in the arts and academics. More importantly, the full potential of the thousands of arts scholars over the last twenty-four years would not have been fully achieved – the window for full realization of talents and aspirations lost forever.

The History of Our Foundation