celebrating 30 Years of artistic Excellence
Join us to reconnect and celebrate our 30-year anniversary!
celebrating 30 Years of artistic Excellence
Join us to reconnect and celebrate our 30-year anniversary!
history
Welcome to The Duke Ellington School of The Arts
Duke Ellington School of the Arts (DESA) was established in 1974 by two trailblazing African-American artists and activists, Peggy Cooper-Cafritz and Mike Malone.
Their vision was to provide equitable access to a life-changing arts education for the District's talented youth, regardless of background or ability to pay.
To this day, DESA is the only public high school in DC to offer a dual curriculum integrating college-preparatory academics with pre-professional arts training in Dance, Instrumental Music, Cinematic Arts & Media Production, Museum Studies, Technical, Design & Production, Theatre, Visual Arts, and Vocal Music.
Nearly 50 years later, Ellington continues to nurture the next generation of scholar-artists and changemakers.