Sacramento High's planned School of the Arts, one of six themed academies that will make up the charter campus, will partner with the University of California, Davis, School of Education; the division of Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies; and the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts to develop a curriculum, train teachers and bring mentors, performers and master classes to the school, Margaret Fortune, superintendent of St. HOPE Public Schools, said at a news conference.

Officials also announced a grant of more than $1 million from the Walton Family Foundation. The startup grant will be split among the school's six academies and Public School 7, a K-4 charter run by St. HOPE Public Schools and located in Oak Park.

"The funding is important," Fortune said. "It will allow us to do some innovative things in the classroom that we believe will enhance student achievement."

The grant from the Walton Family Foundation brings the total raised for the revamped Sac High to more than $6 million; previous grants came from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, developer Buzz Oates and the UC Davis Medical Center.

Despite lingering legal challenges, the nonprofit St. HOPE Corp. continues to enroll students and forge community partnerships for Sac High, which is scheduled to reopen as a charter school on Sept. 2.

"It has been a real fight to open Sacramento High," Fortune said. "But we have to remember why we're in this -- for young people to have a better opportunity."

UC Davis has long been committed to arts education at Sac High, said Brian McCurdy, director of the Mondavi Center on the university campus. Through the school's former Visual and Performing Arts Centre magnet program, the university often sponsored matinees and master classes at the campus.

The new partnership will build on that commitment and, hopefully, serve as a model for other school systems and universities to emphasize the arts, he said.

"In the present climate of uncertain funding for the arts, partnerships such as this will provide a model for keeping the arts as a vital part of high school education," McCurdy said.

The grant from the Walton Family Foundation is one of hundreds awarded annually by the organization. Started by Sam and Helen Walton, founders of the Wal-Mart retail chain, the organization awards grants to new and existing charter schools across the country that have the potential to improve student achievement and bring new educational options to low-income families, said Ben Lindquist, a program officer for the foundation.

The grant will be used to pay for startup costs, including fur-niture, textbooks, computers, teacher training and the development of an innovative curriculum, Fortune said.

Sacramento City Unified School District board President Rob Fong praised St. HOPE's efforts to bring much-needed resources to the Oak Park campus.

"I am amazed at the resources and energy that St. HOPE continues to bring to Sac High," said Fong, who attended the news conference along with Karen Young, second vice president of the board. "If people could see this firsthand, they would understand why we think this is a good idea."

The fight over Sac High's future began in December, when former basketball star and alumnus Kevin Johnson announced plans for his St. HOPE Corp. to take the reins of the struggling school.

A divided board of trustees voted to close the school, sparking a deep community division between those who support the charter reform effort and those who don't.

A parent group is working to recall the four board members who consistently have voted in favor of St. HOPE.

The charter is still being challenged in court, but until a final decision is made, St. HOPE and the district have continued readying the school for its Sept. 2 opening.