Founded in 1908 by two young women, Jeannette Selig Frank and Blanche Wolf Kohn, it is the largest community school of the arts in the United States.

Its five branches are in South, West and Northeast Philadelphia, Germantown, and Willow Grove, Pennsylvania.

Among its alumni are Albert Einstein, Michael and Kevin Bacon, Stanley Clarke, Chubby Checker, Clamma Dale, Joey DeFrancesco, Kevin Eubanks, Christian McBride, Questlove, former Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo, Wallace Roney, and members of many symphony orchestras across the United States and around the world.

A close friend of the Bok family, pianist Josef Hofmann, played a recital at the school's dedication.

[1] Today this facility on 416 Queen Street in Philadelphia is known as the Mary Louise Curtis Branch.