The school offers academic studies including Pittsburgh Scholars Program (PSP) and Centers for Advanced Study (CAS), along with activities like the National Honor Society, Tri-M Music Honor Society, National Art Honor Society, yearbook, newspaper, student council, Amnesty International, Model United Nations, the American Mathematics Competitions and North American Computational Linguistics Open competition, and ski club.

CAPA opened in September 1979 with 35 students, housed in Baxter Elementary School in the Homewood neighborhood.

This location allows students to study their craft in the hub of Pittsburgh's cultural center and to collaborate with artists from all over.

As of October 1, 2018:[1] The literary arts program at CAPA is a seven-year course of study in creative writing — one of only a dozen nationwide.

Student activities include the national Poetry Out Loud competition, and the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.

Each student normally receives a private lesson once every two weeks with a faculty member specializing on his/her instrument.

The Pro-Tech major gives students the opportunity to learn engineering techniques and the fundamentals of building sets for theatre shows.

The Voice Department offers students education through its sequential four-year curriculum, through collaborative work with professional music organizations, and through performance opportunities and Master Classes.