History
The Harding Fine Arts Academy Foundation is a nonprofit organization, established in 2019, that supports Harding Fine Arts Academy (Academy), a public charter high school in Oklahoma City known for its award-winning programs. The Foundation, overseen by a volunteer board of community leaders, is managed day-to-day by one paid staff member.
The Academy was founded in 2005 by arts and preservation leader John L. Belt, along with other community and arts advocates, to create an arts-focused public charter school in Oklahoma City.
As a tuition-free, non-selective charter school, the Academy is open to all, ensuring diversity, equity, and inclusion. The school uses a unique arts-integrated teaching approach, where students learn through creative methods that link arts with other subjects. For instance, students might write a song about cell division in science or study Picasso’s cubism in geometry to learn about shapes and angles. This method not only prepares students for college but also equips them with essential life and career skills.
Research from Oklahoma A+ Schools shows that students in arts-integrated environments achieve higher academically, attend more regularly, have fewer disciplinary issues, and are more engaged and happy—along with their teachers. Americans for the Arts also found that students involved in the arts are five times more likely to graduate from high school and twice as likely to graduate from college. The Academy’s arts-integrated approach not only keeps students engaged but also prepares them for successful careers in fields like medicine, STEM, finance, and the arts.
