Our Fast Track Program: for kids with artistic promise who want to accelerate the advancement of their skills in design and fine art, or to build a portfolio of work as part of their private high school applications &/or SOTA Audition.
The Fast Track Program offers children talented in the visual arts the opportunity to take art lessons twice a week or three hours on Sundays, and if the interest is there, the opportunity to build a portfolio that prepares them for admission to prestigious private high schools, the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts (SOTA), or top art departments in colleges across the US. Students in grades 4-12 develop their outstanding artistic skills under the guidance of Chris Babcock, San Francisco-based portrait artist, author and founder of Chris Babcock Art Prep.
Over the last decade, Chris Babcock has helped all her Fast Track Art students with a 3.5 to 4.0 average get into their top choice of high schools. At the request of students or parents, Chris Babcock writes a letter of recommendation for private school admissions based on the students' years of dedicated hard work in building an exceptional portfolio of their artwork.
7th to 12th-grade students must maintain a 3.5 average in school academics at all times if they want to join and stay in our portfolio-building program.
Tuition: $1099.00, To take $100.00 off tuition, USE CODE FAST100 at check out to pay only $999.00
Age Group: 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students
Skill Level: beginning, Intermediate and advanced
Length: 1 session of 1.5-hour lessons twice a week for 8 weeks, or one 3-hour lesson once a week for 8 weeks
Tuition Includes: Professional-grade Blick, Liquitex, Amsterdam, and Utrecht brand acrylic paints, 150 assorted Prismacolor pencils, 72 assorted colors of Gallery Artist Soft Pastels and Charcoal pencils, Blick Design Markers, complete set of all 12 grades of H16 to B9 sketching pencils, a variety of specialized professional quality Princeton Velvet Touch brushes, 100% cotton American Masters cold press paper, Strathmore paper for colored pencils, Strathmore pastel paper, 8 by 10 inch, 9 by 12 inch, and 11 by 14-inch canvas boards.
Session Dates
We offer rolling admissions so kids can join at any time during the scheduled 8 weeks of each season, but each child must commit to 8 weeks from the date they join our program.
Fall 2024
September 16-20, 23-27, 30-Oct 4
Note: Thursday, September 26 is CLOSED. Thursday students must reschedule for another day that week.
October 7-11, 15-18, 21-25, 28-Nov 1, 4-8
Winter 2024 - 2025
Nov. 11-15, 18-22
(No Fast Track classes Nov. 25-29)
Dec. 2-6, 9-13, 16-20
(No Fast Track classes Dec. 23-27)
January 6-10, 13-17, 21-24
Mid-Winter 2025
Feb. 3-7, 10-14
(No Fast Track classes Feb. 17-21)
Feb. 24-28
March 10-14, 17-21, 24-28, 31-Apr 4
April 7-11
If your Spring Break is on any of these weeks, and you are out of town, call us at 415-745-5301 to schedule the missed classes on days of the weeks between Feb. 3 and April 11.
Spring 2025
April 14-18, 21-25, 28-May 2
May 5-9, 12-16, 19-23, 26-30
June 2-6
If your Spring Break is on any of these weeks, and you are out of town, call us at 415-745-5301 to schedule the missed classes on days of the weeks between Feb. 3 and March 7.
Each student is eligible for up to 1 scheduled make-up class per month during the school year. To cancel a class, please contact us no later than noon the day before the absence. Make-up classes must be completed within one month (4 weeks) from the date of the absence.