October 11, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Janet Starke Krogman
Program and Grants Manager
Office: (704) 333-1059
Cell: (704) 778-5671
jskrogman@artsteach.org

ArtsTeach Announces $864,430 for Arts-in-Education
Programs to Enhance Student Academic Achievement
$864,430 to support arts-in-education in CMS schools during the 2006-07 school year

OCTOBER 11, 2006—CHARLOTTE, NC—In a report to the CMS Board of Education Tuesday evening, Executive Director Deborah Cooper announced grant awards and programs totaling $864,430 that will provide innovative arts-in-education programs for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) in the 2006-07 school year.

Students have the opportunity to experience live performances and exhibits and professional artists, dancers, actors and musicians in the classroom who use the arts to connect to other academic subjects. The grants program, which accounts for 73% of the total amount supporting CMS, partners an area school or several schools with a local arts organization or artist who work together to implement the program at the school
site (s).

“The generosity of ArtsTeach in providing more than $850,000 this year for CMS is good for kids,” Dr. Gorman said. “This will help us to incorporate the arts in many forms in our classrooms in ways that will help our students learn and achieve at the highest level.”

This year’s total is an 11% increase from the amount of grants and programs that were provided for CMS schools during the 2005-06 school year. This year’s funding is increased, in part, thanks to the recent Arts Education Model Development and Dissemination grant awarded to ArtsTeach by the U.S. Department of Education for its ArtStart program.

Deborah Cooper, Executive Director of ArtsTeach, shared “We remain committed to providing funding and programs that nurture innovative ways to use the arts in education focused on continuing to engage students in their academic learning and excite teachers about teaching.”

Grants and programs provided to CMS are as follows:

$211,187 awarded to 21 applicants through Curriculum Connections grants, designed to use the arts to teach concepts of core academic subjects such as science, social studies and math.

$173,143 awarded to 16 applicants through Education in the Arts grants, designed to teach students specific arts skills.

$249,500 awarded to five organizations through Learning Events grants, designed to prepare for and engage students in live arts performances.

$130,000 for residencies and stipends for ArtStart, an arts integration program that uses the arts to teach writing for fourth grade classrooms.

$59,000 for professional development for classroom teachers, arts teachers and teaching artists who work in classrooms throughout CMS.

$27,600 for the pilot year of the North Carolina Wolf Trap, a Program of ArtsTeach¸ which will provide arts-in-education services for at-risk children ages 3-5, beginning at Tryon Hills Pre K Center.

$14,000 in additional funding that supports the annual CMS Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards and subsidizes gallery space in Spirit Square for student and teacher exhibitions.

About ArtsTeach
ArtsTeach, located at Spirit Square in Charlotte, N.C., is an educational partner to the Arts & Science Council. ArtsTeach seeks to maximize academic learning for students by exposure, practice and infusion of the arts. Grants to schools and arts organizations are made for curriculum-based arts experiences, and professional development is provided to classroom teachers, arts teachers and teaching artists throughout the year. ArtsTeach is also home to the North Carolina Wolf Trap, a pilot program of the Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning in the Arts, based in Vienna, Virginia. ArtsTeach is funded through the generous support of the ASC, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, the North Carolina Arts Council, the U.S. Department of Education and the Knight Foundation. Visit www.artsteach.org.

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