When school budgets are tight, arts programming is typically the first thing to go. That's not been the case lately in Milwaukee Public Schools.
Since 2012, the district has put an emphasis on music, dance, theater and visual arts, adding teachers and class time when possible.
And the powers that be are taking notice. MPS will soon receive some more federal funding to help bring art into other parts of the school building.
Four historically underperforming district schools – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary, Lancaster, William T. Sherman Multicultural Arts and Roosevelt Creative Arts Middle School – will join President Barack Obama’s signature arts program, Turnaround Arts.
It’s an initiative to give high-need schools the resources to infuse arts as a strategy to close achievement gaps. Participating schools receive resources and instruction on how to incorporate arts into different content areas in all of their classrooms.
“Turnaround Arts gives us an opportunity to continue to look for innovative ways to improve student achievement in our district,” says MPS superintendent Darienne Driver.
MPS has one of the largest achievement gaps between black and white students in the country. The four schools selected for Turnaround Arts are all low-performing buildings in need of improvement.
Driver says the program they’ll be part of has shown in other schools it can make a difference. “Nationwide, the Turnaround Arts program for the past four years have seen a 12.6 percent increase in reading proficiency, and 22.5 percent increase in math,” djr explains. “Arts truly is an essential component of educating the whole child.”
Around the country, the President’s arts integration schools have also seen an increase in attendance and a decrease in suspensions, according to MPS’ Chief Innovation Officer Tonya Adair.
At King Elementary, arts is already a big part of the school day.
"Arts truly is an essential component of educating the whole child."
King is an African-American immersion school. Part of the curriculum is learning about different African cultures. African drumming is a fixture, along with African dance class.
King’s principal, Marcus Arrington, says these courses have obvious objectives, like helping students learn about their heritage. But, he adds, there are other benefits, too.
“Arts is an entry point to the academic literacies that they need to acquire,” Arrington says. “I think art is a bridge, and a way to open that door for broader conversations about math, science, reading, social studies, so that there’s not this disconnect between what’s important to us as educators and what’s important to them as students.”
Arrington says he looks forward to seeing how the resources provided by Turnaround Arts will help his teachers plan lessons to capture the whole class. He adds that he hopes the program can give teachers the information they need to help make school a positive place for kids.
“Especially when you look at our neighborhood, which is high poverty, high crime, low education, school should be a place where young people can retreat from some of those negative factors and stressors that they encounter on a daily basis,” Arrington says.
Turnaround Arts started in 2011 with eight schools; with the addition of MPS, that number is now up to 68. All participating schools are selected from the lowest five percent of underperforming schools.
This is the first time any Wisconsin schools have been selected for the national initiative. Programming will kick off in the four selected schools in the fall.
The initiative will continue even after President Obama leaves office, through a partnership with the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
First lady Michelle Obama will officially welcome MPS into the program Wednesday afternoon at the White House's third annual Turnaround Arts talent show. Those interested can watch the stream here.
