Academy of Visual and Performing Arts, Fort Worth TX

Original Research by School Decision on Academy of Visual and Performing Arts

# Academy of Visual and Performing Arts

The Academy of Visual and Performing Arts, a tuition-free charter school in Fort Worth serving grades six and seven, permanently closed in 2025 after roughly two years of operation. The school opened in 2023 as an open-enrollment public charter with a focus on visual and performing arts. However, the board voted to close it following a major funding loss that left a substantial budget gap. This closure means the school is no longer an enrollment option, and families who had placed students there needed to find alternative placements.

For the school year before closure, academic proficiency was low across tested subjects. In English language arts, proficiency ranged from roughly a quarter of students meeting the standard in grade six to about one-fifth in grade eight. Mathematics proficiency was much lower, with fewer than one in ten students reaching proficiency in grades six and seven. Science and social studies results were similarly weak. When averaged across subjects and grades, overall proficiency was well below the midpoint among districts in Tarrant County, placing the school in the bottom quartile for the region. The school's enrollment was small, with several dozen students distributed across its two grade levels. A substantial share of students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student body was majority African American.

The school's financial trajectory is the defining context here. Public reporting indicates that the loss of a major funder created an unsustainable budget hole, and fundraising efforts did not close the gap. The board's decision to close rather than continue reflects those fiscal realities. For a parent considering a school in this situation, the hard fact is that the school no longer exists. Those seeking an arts-focused learning environment in the Fort Worth area would need to explore other options, whether through the larger Fort Worth ISD system, other charter schools, or private institutions.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 69%

School 9% · District 9%

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Grade 79%

School 9% · District 9%

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 810%

School 10% · District 10%

▼ 32 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 630%

School 30% · District 30%

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 729%

School 29% · District 29%

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 821%

School 21% · District 21%

▼ 34 pts below state median · ▼ 32 pts below county median

Science

Grade 825%

School 25% · District 25%

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 89%

School 9% · District 9%

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

This schoolACADEMY OF VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.