A. N. McCallum High School is a public high school in Austin, Texas, United States. McCallum, the second oldest high school in the Austin Independent School District, opened in 1953 to relieve growth in north and northwest Austin. Named after AISD's first high school superintendent, A.N. McCallum, the school strives to reflect the initiatives and achievements of its namesake. In 1994, McCallum motioned to make its campus the home of AISD's Fine Arts Academy. Currently, the Fine Arts Academy is open to all students in AISD who wish to attend, given that they are accepted following an admissions process. Current fine arts strands include visual arts, dance, theatre, cinematic arts, voice, and instrumental music. The Fine Arts Academy was recently named the 2015 Grammy Foundation's National Signature School, the lone recipient out of thousands of fine arts high schools in the country. McCallum had previously ranked as a Signature School Finalist in 2005, a decade before winning the highest award possible. Topping the list of thirteen high schools in the country, McCallum's recognition as the National Signature School earned the music program $5,000 from the Grammy Foundation and the program. As recipient of the Foundation's Gold Award, McCallum High School earned the title of best music program in a public U.S. high school through making outstanding commitments to arts education throughout an academic school year. Student ensembles benefitting directly from this award included concert band, choral ensemble, orchestra, classical guitar ensemble, jazz band, and steel pan ensemble.
History
In 1956 the first African-American student began attending McCallum as part of desegregation; a total of 13 black students attended white high schools in AISD at that time. In 1994, the Fine Arts Academy enrolled 17 students, and now has over 500 students. The Academy gained visibility as its own entity within the high school with a professionally designed logo, creation and maintenance of the , and increased social media coverage. In 2011, the high school campus welcomed a new building to the campus, the "MAC" or McCallum Arts Center. This facility houses three new art classrooms and a 500-seat theatre and technical theater shop space. This was the venue used for the 20th anniversary of the Fine Arts Academy in 2014. On May 7, 2015, nine-time Grammy award-winner Ray Benson of Asleep At The Wheel, performed at the evening reception for students, families, school administrators, and local press.
