A Washington, D.C. elementary school beat out a crowded field nationwide to become one of eight schools that will participate in a new White House initiative created with an eye toward improving low-performing schools via the arts.
Today the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) announced that Savoy Elementary School in Southeast D.C. will be among the first beneficiaries of Turnaround Arts (TAI), an intensive two-year program and a public-private partnership developed in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Education and the White House Domestic Policy Council.
“The President’s Committee is delighted to have the students of Savoy Elementary, and their inspirational principal, Patrick Pope, participating in Turnaround Arts,” said George Stevens Jr., co-chair of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. “We observed the outstanding work Mr. Pope and his team are doing at Savoy, and we look forward to helping them harness the power of the arts as they continue to transform Savoy into a creative, engaging and high-performing learning environment.”
Savoy and the other participants will receive training and resources, in-school professional development, partnerships with community arts education and cultural organizations, art supplies and musical instruments and community engagement events. They will also be mentored by artists such as Chuck Close, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kerry Washington—who is working with Savoy—Forest Whitaker, Yo-Yo Ma, Damian Woetzel and Alfre Woodard.
“I am thrilled to be working with Savoy Elementary School over the next two years and excited to roll up my sleeves and get into those classrooms,” said Kerry Washington, actress and PCAH member. “I know firsthand the power of the arts to transform the lives of individual students, and create an engaging place to learn for everyone, and I feel privileged to be part of that process at Savoy.”
The eight elementary and middle schools, chosen in a highly competitive process, are all institutions in the lowest-achieving 5 percent of their state that are receiving School Improvement Grants through the U.S. Department of Education. To qualify, however, Savoy and the other schools also had to demonstrate strong school leadership with district support and a commitment to arts education.
“We are so honored to be one of eight schools in the nation selected for this prestigious program,” said Pope, Savoy’s principal. “We will use our selection to increase arts opportunities beyond the normal school day, provide our teachers with rich and functional professional development and further implement an arts education program considered parallel with the standard core content studies of reading/language arts and mathematics.”
According to three studies released this month by the Council on Foreign Relations, the Department of Education and the National Endowment for the Arts, arts education can lead to better grades, increased creativity, higher rates of college enrollment and graduation, improved discipline and social skills as well as higher aspirations and civic engagement. And these benefits are particularly pronounced in low-poverty, low-performing schools.
“We know that when arts are integrated into school curriculum, our students reap the benefits,” said Kaya Henderson, chancellor of DC Public Schools. “I plan to pay close attention to all the success happening at Savoy and I look forward to the great achievements that will come as part of this prestigious initiative.”
More information about the TAI and profiles of selected schools can be found here. More information about the PCAH can be found here.
