AUGUST 11, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AWARDS ARTSTEACH $252,000 GRANT TO SUPPORT ARTS INTEGRATION PROGRAM IN CHARLOTTE-MECKLENBURG SCHOOLS

AUGUST 11, 2006—CHARLOTTE, NC—ArtsTeach Executive Director Deborah Cooper today announced the organization has been awarded a model development and dissemination grant from the U.S. Department of Education for $252,000 in support of its arts integration program, ArtStart.

U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC) notified the organization of the grant award. "ArtsTeach is helping students in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) improve their academic performance. They work with teachers, administrators and teaching artists to assist our rapidly growing population by providing quality programs in our elementary school classrooms," Myrick said.

Now in its third year, the ArtStart program provides instructional tools, training and assessment strategies that support the fourth grade-writing curriculum for classroom teachers, arts educators and teaching artists through the integration of a variety of art forms.

Currently serving 4,400 fourth grade students, it is anticipated the program will reach over 21,000 third and fourth graders at all CMS elementary schools within the next three to five years. ArtStart has a particular focus to provide important additional resources for students identified as at-risk, in order to maximize learning opportunities. In the upcoming school year, 21 of the 30 schools identified by CMS to have a high at-risk population will participate in ArtStart.

“This grant will enable us to increase our teaching artists’ time in the classroom, help us reach our goal of 100% participation by all 3rd and 4th grade CMS elementary students, host a Leadership Academy for CMS principals and support further training of classroom teachers, arts teachers and teaching artists,” Cooper said. “This is a very exciting moment for our organization,” she added.

At an ArtsTeach workshop in July, teachers from 56 schools, and 18 area teaching artists developed 43 arts-integrated writing lessons which will be implemented in the upcoming school year. Lesson plans will be available beginning in September at www.artsteach.org.

The $252,000 awarded by the Department of Education represents approximately 51% of the total program costs for ArtStart for the current fiscal year; the remaining 49% comes to ArtsTeach through funding support from the Arts & Science Council of Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Inc. and the North Carolina Arts Council.

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 has also recently become the home of 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, CMS, the North Carolina Arts Council, the US Department of Education and the Knight Foundation.

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