Lower Manhattan Arts Academy

Lower Manhattan Arts Academy (LoMA) opened in 2005 with the mission of promoting academics through daily immersion in the arts. Located on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the school has developed strong partnerships with local arts and social service organizations to help provide students with lots of arts enrichment and academic support.

Ninth graders rotate through 10 weeks each of drama, music, dance and visual arts. Students then choose a major to pursue in grades 10 through 12. The Henry Street Settlement offers an extensive after school arts program. Students perform in a play in the fall and a musical in the spring.

Twelfth graders complete an internship at organizations such as the Abrons Arts Center, The Public Theater and Harlem Hospital. Students attend theater, music and dance performances and visit museums and cultural institutions.

One student wrote a play that was performed at the Imperial Theatre on Broadway; another choreographed a dance that performed with American Ballet Theatre at the Metropolitan Opera House, according the school’s yearly plan.

It’s a safe school where students gets lots of attention from adults. “There are no fights” and “students treat each other with respect, tolerance, and friendship,” according to an educator who visited for the school’s Quality Review. “Students said they feel welcome and that they can express themselves without fear of judgment or bullying.”

Students take a regular academic program that includes four years of English, history, science and math. LoMA has four full-time and three part-time counsellors, a very high number for a small school. Daily, student volunteers from New York University provide tutoring.

LoMA is one of five small, high schools housed in the Seward Park Campus building. All Seward Campus schools share use of the auditorium, gymnasium, cardio and weight room, cafeteria, swimming pool and library. There are no metal detectors.

A downside: Parent involvement is low, according to school surveys. While most students graduate on time, many must take remedial classes when they go to college.   

Special education: Thirty percent of students have special needs. Nearly half the classes are team-taught ICT (Integrated Collaborative Teaching) classes, with two teachers. .

Admissions: Founding Principal John Wenk, who taught at the Professional Performing Arts School and Seward Park High School, believes all students should study art, whatever their background or talents. The school doesn’t require an audition and all students are welcome. Students are admitted according to the educational option formula designed to ensure a mix of students of different academic abilities. (Clara Hemphill, DOE data and web reports, October, 2018)