![A dance class at the school in 2011.](https://i0.wp.com/graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/09/20/arts/20artsbeat-harlem2/20artsbeat-harlem2-blog480.jpg?resize=507%2C315)
The Harlem School of the Arts, a community arts school that has faced major financial hurdles in the last few years, has received a grant of more than $5 million from the Herb Alpert Foundation that will allow the school to retire its debt, restore its endowment and create a scholarship program for needy students.