The school day is arranged to have four periods a day, in block periods over the week. Mondays and Wednesdays at SOTA students attend periods 1–4, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays students attend periods 5–8. There are 20 minute passing periods, as classes are held in over 10 different buildings and businesses. Three of these buildings are owned by Tacoma Public Schools and they are all within one square mile. Some classes are housed in the University of Washington Tacoma, Tacoma Art Museum and the Broadway Center for the Performing Arts.