History

Friendship Academy of the Arts (FAA) was founded in 2001 by a group of community leaders committed to addressing the dire opportunity gap for African-American students in Minnesota. A group of educators from Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church embarked on a mission to create a school that provided access to a high quality education and the arts. After 2 years of planning the school opened in 2001 with 37 students and ended the year with 47.

Since then FAA has been in three locations with and ended the 2021 school year with 280 students. Due to family and community demand, FAA has expanded to  a K-8 school and is now operating at two locations. The Primary site (2600 E. 38th St.) serves grades K-1st and the Intermediate site (3320 E. 41st St.) serves grades 2nd-8th. FAA prides itself in being a school started by the community, sustained by the community, and will continue to be led by the community it serves into the future.