Communications Arts High School

Magnet school in Texas, United States
In 2011, the school was rated "recognized" by the Texas Education Agency.

Communications Arts resides within the larger Taft High School campus in the C building. The C building was designed by O'Neill, Conrad, Oppelt Architects and built by Eaton Contracting in 2003. Teachers may elect to hold special classroom activities in the school's outdoor classroom, but students not are allowed to have lunch there due to lack of supervision and weather conditions. Students taking Yearbook or Advanced Broadcast Journalism courses have access to a publications lab equipped with iMacs, and all strands have classrooms with iMacs as well.

Admission to Communications Arts is open to Bexar County students with at least a C average, and in the past, required the submission of an application and the student's choice of an essay or a 5 minute video, though this was changed prior to the 2023 2024 school year. Eligible applicants are entered into a lottery system with selected students notified by email. Prior to admitting the class of 2005, the admissions process did not operate as a lottery, and admitted students were selected based on the merits of their application. Each year, the school accepts approximately 130 freshmen. As a public school, no tuition is charged to either in district or out of district students.

Communications Arts student organizations generally operate independently of their Taft counterparts and include a National Honor Society chapter, Student Council, Environment Club, Photography Club, Creative Writing Club, Spanish National Honor Society, an E Sports club, Film Club, and Helping Hands. All organizations have faculty sponsors, which assist in any fundraising activities like selling food during school events, or after school. Each class has its own organization as well, responsible for raising funds to prepare for senior year activities. The senior class each year is responsible for hosting Senior Banquet, but some classes may opt for a Senior trip in leu of a banquet.

The school's small atmosphere and numerous student organizations have fostered many annual events. These include musical events such as Grassroots, a musical event in which students can perform solo or group acts. Additionally, the school hosts two festival style events, Turkeyfest and Earth Day, sponsored by the Student Council and Environment Club, respectively. The Parent Support Group hosts an annual family picnic called CAHS in the Parking Lot. These events are generally fundraisers for the organizations that sponsor them.

The school's focus on communications pursuits fosters many student produced publications. These include weekly video announcements and an annual recruitment video, produced by the Advanced Video Technology class. The school produces its own yearbook as well, under the title Unity. Students also publish a Spanish language campus e paper under the title La Communidad.

In early 2019, Mexican free tailed bats infested the building. All classes were held in Taft until they were removed by animal control. One expert was bitten during the operation. Students during that time suggested changing their mascot to the "Comm Bats".