arts schools network is the resource for arts schools leaders

issue 104 l december 19 2013

Greetings Members and Friends,

This has been an exciting December for us!

On Your Way adjudication wrapped up yesterday, and we are beginning to email judges' scores and comments to each student. Scholarship winners and their schools are being notified today; and we should have a press release out by early next week. Thank you participating schools, for supporting your talented students' efforts in developing an online audition portfolio they can continue to build.

The Holiday Elementary School Card Contest submissions showed a wide range of approaches from across the USA. Our students have loving hearts and imaginative minds. Look for the winners' spotlight next week! Thank you members for sharing your holiday cheer with us.

TAKE SURVEY

Kennedy Center's Office of VSA and Accessibility is endeavoring to develop and administer a track of sessions, panels and/or workshops at the ASN Annual Conference October 22-25, 2014 in Denver, CO, on issues related to and addressing access accommodations and educational strategies for the inclusion of students with disabilities in ASN member schools.

Lastly, the Arts Schools Network Board of Directors are convening January 10, 2014 at member school New World School for the Arts, in Miami, FL, during YoungArts Week. Please send any comments or suggestions to me via email and I will be happy to share with our board.

Our offices will be closed December 23, 2013 through January 3, 2014. We will be monitoring email and voice mail during the holiday break.

Good luck and Godspeed.

Sincerely,

Kristy Callaway

Executive Director

image, holiday card competition submission

Mia Rose Colamonico, Grade 2
Suzanne Dionne, Visual Arts Teacher
Rotella Interdistrict Magnet School
Hartford, CT

teacher spotlight

michael pellera, music department chair

new orleans center for creative arts (nocca)

On December 10th, NOCCA Jazz student Jeffery Miller and Music Department Chair Michael Pellera were able to stop by fellow ASN member school LaGuardia High to jam with its Jazz Director & NOCCA Alum Kevin Blanq and some of his students.

About Michael Pellera

After studying at Berklee College of Music, Mr. Pellera has been a jazz educator serving New Orleans since 1989. He taught jazz piano and improvisation for fifteen years at Loyola University before joining NOCCA's faculty in 2002. In the last 25 years, he has lived in New Orleans and New York, giving his music a unique perspective that draws freely from the influences of the two cities. As a composer he has created a body of work that encompasses modern jazz harmony, indigenous New Orleans rhythms, and elements of the classic American songbook of the 30's & 40's. He has released two critically acclaimed CD's of his jazz compositions. His first CD, "Cloud Nine" was released in 1997 and his second CD "Son of Sky" was released in 200l. Both CD's featured a veritable "who's who" of the New Orleans modern jazz scene, such as, Bill Huntington, John Vidacovich, Steve Masakowski, Tony Dagradi, Bill Summers, James Singleton, and Phillip Manuel. As an arranger and producer he has worked in a variety of contexts from trio to big band. He has performed with a multitude of great jazz artists, including Wynton Marsalis, Buddy Rich, Branford Marsalis, Bobby McFerrin, and Harry Connick Jr. Some of his former students include Brian Blade, Jon Cowherd, Jonathan Batiste, Troy Andrews, Rich Vogel and others who have created distinguished careers for themselves with artists like Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Wynton Marsalis, Liz Wright, Joni Mitchell, Lenny Kravitz, and Galactic

learn more, jazz @ NOCCA.

learn more, jazz @ Fiorello H. LaGuardia HS of Music & Art and Performing Arts.

new member school spotlight (brand new school too!)

nathan hale arts magnet elementary school for the performing and visual arts, new london, ct

donna slate, principal

Nathan Hale Magnet Elementary School for Performing & Visual Arts opened this school year, 2013/2014.The school infuses the New London Public School's curriculum with an emphasis and incorporation of Arts into other areas of study. The Nathan Hale Magnet Elementary School for Performing and Visual Arts is dedicated to building a student body that experiences a curriculum in which the arts are deeply embedded within the core of interdisciplinary learning.

The goal of the Nathan Hale Magnet Elementary School for Performing and Visual Arts is to provide students in grades PreK-5 with the skills necessary to grow academically and artistically. The magnet school will accomplish this by providing the students with a rigorous core academic program. Students will make interdisciplinary connections, engage in project-based learning, participate in the production cycle and work with our partnering organizations as they develop and refine new skills.

Nathan Hale Magnet Elementary School for Performing and Visual Arts will integrate learning experiences and activities that support the students' development. The arts curricula will be built into each student's daily schedule to provide additional experiences that will enhance training in the arts. By the end of grade 5, students will gain exposure in all of the art forms by participating in specific classes that help them to identify their interests and abilities.

learn more.

member spotlight

council of arts accrediting associations (caaa)

Members of the Council of Arts Accrediting Associations (CAAA) are the National Association of Schools of Music, founded in 1924; the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, founded in 1944; the National Association of Schools of Theatre, founded in 1965; and the National Association of Schools of Dance, founded in 1981. Among them, these organizations accredit over 1000 institutions or programs in the arts, primarily in conservatories, colleges, universities, and independent schools of the arts.

CAAA is a not-for-profit Virginia corporation.

CAAA is governed by a nine-member Board of Trustees: the Presidents and Vice Presidents of each of the member Associations, and the Executive Director of the Associations in common, ex officio.

CAAA meets annually in January.

CAAA is a forum for policy discussions regarding the arts, education, and accreditation; a means for developing advisory documents, analyses, and positions when common action among the members seems appropriate; and a mechanism for formal conversation and coordination among the members and with other national and international organizations.

On behalf of the four organizational members, CAAA oversees the Higher Education Arts Data Services project; the Accrediting Commission for Community and Precollegiate Arts Schools; and the joint properties of the member Associations.

learn more, CAAA.

sponsor spotlight

orange county school of the arts, santa ana, ca

dr. ralph s. opacic, president and executive director

Established in 1987, the Orange County School of the Arts provides a creative, challenging and nurturing environment that offers bright and talented students unparalleled preparation for higher education and a profession in the arts. This premier public charter school currently serves nearly 2,000 students in grades 7-12 from more than 100 cities throughout Southern California.

The Orange County School of the Arts offers dual arts and academic programs and is the place for aspiring young artists to flourish in one of thirteen arts conservatories, including:

Classical & Contemporary Dance
Classical Voice
Commercial Dance
Creative Writing
Culinary Arts and Hospitality
Digital Media
Film & Television
Instrumental Music
Integrated Arts
International Dance
Music & Theatre
Production & Design
Visual Arts

The Orange County School of the Arts is one of the top scoring academic schools in the State of California. The school's recent API score exceeded the Governor's target goal for all schools in California, and the school ranks in the 90th percentile compared to all other schools in California. The Orange County School of the Arts has also been named one of the top public high school academic programs in Orange County by the Orange County Register.

It is the only specialized arts program of its kind in the region to offer tuition-free academic and arts instruction to students from Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties. The non-profit school relies solely on private and corporate donations, totaling $7 million annually, to fund the arts conservatories offered.

learn more.

asn board member spotlight

dr. roy s. fluhrer, director

fine arts center, greenville, sc

An excerpt from a letter to parents August 2013:

"Someone once said, "Learning is a risky business." I hope that meant without risking anything you rarely gain anything. Education is safe. How often are we asked to extend ourselves, to venture beyond the "comfortable"? Education is predictable.

There are standards, curricula, rules, codes, and tests; and if we master those and learn how to play the game, we have a right to expect the reward. Not in the arts. In the arts it's different. Unless you risk, unless you are willing to fail: to have the courage to fail - then you will, indeed, remain in the comfortable zone of mediocrity.

Each day at The Fine Arts Center, your student will be asked to think again, to dig deeper, to look again, to start over, to seek the pattern or, better, to create a new one. That can't be done unless the student is constantly turning over the possibilities, testing the edges, seeing something for the first time, trying it, failing, and trying it again.

My background is the theatre, and the stage is a place where rehearsals are held, a place where actors test hypotheses and where their willingness to fail, to experiment, to go where an impulse may lead them is necessary to success. It's no different for a dancer, for a musician, for a poet, a filmmaker or a visual artist. All manipulate their materials to find just the right answer, their individual answer to the problem that has been framed by their artist-teachers. Individual answers. Here your student is an individual. It can't be any other way if we are to remain true to the principles of the creative imagination. The answer isn't in the back of the book; it's not in the text; it's not on some score sheet from a testing organization. It's inside your student.

What do they bring to their studio? Carl Rogers, the great humanist psychologist, said that the willingness to risk failure is a crucial part of what it means to be creative. You can't fail, though, unless there is an atmosphere that permits failure, encourages it, and doesn't punish students for taking a risk.

That's what we do: create the atmosphere that pushes students to new discoveries and rewards them for reaching, for growing. Without failure there can't be excellence, and excellence is what we expect. We'll teach them that from failure, that from being unwilling to settle for clich�s, to search for what is unique, will come not only "A man who makes no mistakes makes nothing."

See the work our students, your children, are producing and discover what is right about public education.

Dr. Roy S. Fluhrer, Director

learn more.

is an arts high school a good fit for you?

majoringinmusic.com december 15 2013 article

choosing a music school / majoring in music / building a successful music career

How can you tell whether attending an arts high school is a good fit for you, your child, or your student? What can be gained from attending an arts school that would otherwise not be available? And how does it impact your acceptance to college?

Arts high school administrators and college music school admission directors offer insights and wisdom to assist you in thinking about what makes sense.

Benefits of attending an arts high school for music: Arts-focused high schools inspire an environment of creativity.

According to Jamie Knight, Music, Media & Entertainment Technology department chair at Huntington Beach High School's Academy for the Performing Arts, creativity is the #1 skill required in the 21st century.

Donn Harris, executive and artistic director of Oakland School for the Arts, agrees. "Regardless of whether you go on in music, creativity is important in whatever you do, even in areas like medicine and politics," he says.

Read full article.

About MajoringInMusic.com, is designed to demystify, clarify, and address clearly the steps that need to be taken to successfully major in music. It is also designed to support students in learning what it takes to build viable and fulfilling music careers. The website was conceived as a response to a need voiced by students, parents, teachers, counselors and music schools across the country for accurate, objective, and helpful information about majoring in music.

2014 vas international young soloists competition

now open for entries

deadline january 27 2014

The Kennedy Center invites musicians with a disability, ages 14 to 25, to enter the 2014 VSA International Young Soloists Competition. The competition is open to international and domestic musicians, soloists and ensembles of two to five members, and musicians of all genres.

Since 1984, the VSA International Young Soloists Program has identified talented musicians with a disability. The VSA International Young Soloists Competition annually selects up to four outstanding musicians from the United States and around the world, and supports and encourages them in their pursuit of a career. These emerging musicians receive $2,500, professional development opportunities, and a performance at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

Learn more.

2014 vsa playwright discovery competition call for scripts

deadline april 28 2014

Middle and high school students are invited to explore the disability experience-in their own life, the lives of others, or through fictional characters-by writing a script. Writers with and without disabilities are encouraged to submit a one-act script for stage or screen. Entries may be the work of an individual student or a collaboration by up to five students.

The competition has three divisions. One winning script is selected in each of the Primary and Junior Divisions (grades 6-7 and 8-9 respectively). Winners in these divisions will receive $500 for arts programs at their schools, along with an award recognizing the student for excellence in script writing.

In the Senior Division (grades 10-12), a select number of applicants will be brought to Washington, D.C. for the VSA Playwright Discovery Weekend Intensive which will include pre-professional activities such as playwriting workshops, roundtable discussions, and staged readings. A select number of Senior Division winners' scripts will be chosen for a Millennium Stage performance as part of the Kennedy Center's Page-to-Stage festival.

Learn more.

stay connected

survey on access and inclusion of students with disabilities

Staff of VSA, the international organization on arts and disability, part of the Education Division at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, held meetings at ASN's 2013 NYC Conference to speak with educators and administrators about how to more intentionally serve students with disabilities at their schools.

Participants learned about programs for emerging artists with and without disabilities that include fully-paid trips to Washington, D.C., prize monies, professional development of the highest caliber, and performance opportunities on stage at the Kennedy Center.

VSA staff also talked about UDL, inclusive classrooms, and scaffolding arts experiences for non-traditional learners.

learn more.

on your way participating member schools, thank you!

Alexander W. Dreyfoos Jr. School of the Arts

Booker T. Washington School for the Visual & Performing Arts
Chattanooga High School Center for Creative Arts

ChiArts - The Chicago High School for the Arts
Colorado Springs Conservatory

Denver School of the Arts

Design Architecture Senior High

Duke Ellington School of the Arts

Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts

Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts

Houston High School for the Performing and Visual Arts

Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts

Interlochen Center for the Arts

Lehigh Valley Charter HS for the Performing Arts

Lusher Charter School

Mississippi School of the Arts

New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts

Orange County School of the Arts

Perpich Center for Arts Education

Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences

Toledo School for the Arts

UNC School of Arts

Walnut Hill School of the Arts

job postings
free for members

Creative Writing Instructor
Vice President and Executive Dean for Student Affairs
Presentations Technical Director
Interlochen Center for Arts, Interlochen, MI

Annual Fund and Grants Manager, Ellington Fund
Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Washington DC

Learn more.earn more.

getting together

Together, we refresh and reinforce our expertise and efforts, online and in person!

2014 TIMELINE FOR AWARDS & EXEMPLARY SCHOOLS

January 15

START APPLICATIONS AND/OR NOMINATIONS

January 15-March 15

TECHNICAL SUPPORT AVAILABLE

March 15

SUBMISSION DEADLINE

April 15

RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD

May 1

SCHOOL NOTIFICATIONS

May 15

PRESS RELEASES

October 22-25

RECOGNITION at Annual Conference, Denver, CO

2014 GATHERINGS

January 10

BOARD OF DIRECTORS' MEETING

New World School of the Arts & YoungArts Week, Miami, FL

April 25

BOARD OF DIRECTORS' MEETING

Denver, CO

Denver School of the Arts

October 22-25

ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Denver, CO

Denver School of the Arts, Kunsmiller Creative Arts Academy

share your knowledge
join a committee

A big part of getting it together is participation. The more you engage and contribute, the more we all benefit.

Please share your expertise and experience and register to serve on one of ASN's diverse committees.

You'll be instrumental in shaping our organization, our power, and the next generation of artists.

join a committee! register here.

2014 committee meeting schedule tba

Arts Integration

Chair, David Flatley

Best Practices in Teaching and Leadership

Co-Chairs, Scott Allen & Donn Harris

College and Career

Chair, Halley Shefler

Elementary & Middle

Chair, Dr. Mary Palmer

book recommendation

teaching through the ARTS: writing volume 1 is about to come off the press!

Master teachers, Dr. Mary Palmer and Susan Rosoff, have collaborated to create inspiring units of instruction that will heighten your use of powerful strategies to integrate the arts into classroom instruction AND to integrate the teaching of writing into arts instruction.

Their authentic approach to arts integration provides a springboard for transforming your instructional practices, enlivening your teaching, and engaging your students in new and exciting ways.

Until December 31, purchase this book at the pre-publication price of $19.95 + shipping and handling.

Go to www.artsjourneypress.com for further information about the book and to order your copy today Watch for a presentation by Mary and Susan on an upcoming ASN Webinar program!

sponsor thank yous

Thank you to all of our members!

Abbotsford School of Integrated Arts l Acceptd l ACES Educational Center for the Arts l Alabama School of Fine Arts l Alphonsus Academy & Center for the Arts l American Musical and Dramatic Academy l Anne Arundel County Public Schools l Apalachee Tapestry Magnet School of the Arts l Argosy University/Sarasota l Arizona School for the Arts l Arts and Academicscom l Arts in Basic Curriculum Project l ArtsBridge, LLC l Ashley River Creative Arts l ASIA North Poplar Elementary l Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design l Bak Middle School of Arts l Baldwin Arts & Academics Magnet School l Baltimore School for the Arts l Barbara Ingram School of the Arts l Berklee College of Music l Bienen School of Music, Northwestern University l Blue Jay Elementary l Bluffton Elementary School l Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts l Booker High School, Visual & Performing Arts Center l Boston Arts Academy l Cab Calloway School of the Arts l CalArts l California College of the Arts l Central Visual & Performing Arts High School l Chattanooga High School Center for Creative Arts l Chicago Academy for the Arts l ChiArts l Cho Benn Holback + Associates l Cicely L. Tyson Community School of Performing & Fine Arts l Cinema & Digital Arts, Point Park University l Classen School of Advanced Studies l Colorado Springs Conservatory l Columbia College Chicago l Columbia University Teachers College l Columbus College of Art & Design l Confederation Park Elementary School Education Through the Arts l Conservatory Lab Charter l Cornish College of the Arts l Council of Arts Accrediting Associations l Creative Arts High School - Saint Paul Public Schools l Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences l Culver Academies l Davenport Community Schools l Davenport School of the Arts l Dean College, School of the Arts l Denver School of the Arts l Design Architecture Senior High l Douglas Anderson School of the Arts l Dreyfoos School of the Arts l Duke Ellington School of the Arts l Durham School of the Arts l Edwin S. Richards Elementary School l Fillmore Arts Center l Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts l Fine Arts Center l George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology l Germantown High School l Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts l Green Bay Area Public School District l Groton School l Harrison School for the Arts l Harlem School of the Arts l Harlem School of the Arts l Houston High School for the Performing and Visual Arts l Howard Middle School Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts l Howard W. Blake High School of the Arts l Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts l Idaho Arts Charter School l Idyllwild Arts Academy l Inspire School of Arts & Sciences l Interlochen Center for the Arts l Isidore Newman School l Juilliard School l Kalamazoo RESA Education for the Arts l Kansas City Art Institute l Kunsmiller Creative Arts Academy l Las Vegas Academy of the Arts l LaVilla School of the Arts l Lehigh Valley Charter HS for the Performing Arts l Long Island High School for the Arts l Los Angeles County High School for the Arts l Las Vegas Academy l Lighthouse Academies l Lusher Charter School l Mary Palmer & Associates, LLC, Consultants in Education and the Arts l Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University l Massachusetts College of Art and Design l McCallum Fine Arts Academy l McLaughlin Middle School l Memphis College of Art l Menlo School l Metropolitan Arts Institute l Miami Arts Charter School l Miami-Dade County Public Schools l Mid-Pacific Institute l Mississippi School of the Arts l Mississippi Arts Commission l Muller Elementary Magnet School l Muscogee County School District l New Mexico School for the Arts l New Rochelle High School l New School for the Arts l New York University, Tisch School of the Arts l Niles Township High School D219 l NOCCA l North East School of the Arts l North Ft. Myers Academy for the Arts l Oakland School for the Arts l Orange County School of the Arts l Orange Grove Middle Magnet School of the Arts l Otis, John, ASN Past President l Otis College of Art and Design l Overton High School "School for the Creative and Performing Arts" l Oxbow School l Parsons The New School For Design l Perpich Center for Arts Education l Philip Shore Elementary Magnet School of the Arts l Pine Forest Elementary l Pinellas County Center for the Arts l Pittsburgh CAPA 6-12 l Plumosa School of the Arts l Progress Village Middle Magnet School of the Arts l Recording, Radio and Film Connection (RRF) l Regional Center for the Arts l Ringling College of Art and Design l Riverside Unified School District l Ramon Cortines High School for the Visual and Performing Arts l Rotella Interdistrict Magnet School l Royal Conservatoire of Scotland l Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts l San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts l San Francisco Art Institute l Santa Fe University of Art and Design l Savannah Arts Academy l School District of Osceola County, Florida l School District of Palm Beach County l School of Arts and Enterprise l School of the Art Institute of Chicago l School of the Arts Foundation, Inc. l School of the Arts, College of Charleston l Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences l Sherry, Tom, Architect, AIA, LEED, AP l Sidley Austin, LLP l South Orange County School of the Arts Foundation l South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities l Southeastern University l Strategic National Arts Alumni Project l Swarthmore College l The University of Texas at Austin l Thompson, Catherine, ASN Past President l Toledo School for the Arts l Tri-Cities High School l UNC School of Arts l University of Minnesota/Guthrie BFA l Walnut Hill School of the Arts l Waterbury Arts Magnet School l Webster University l Wenger Corporation l Westminster College of the Arts-Rider University l Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts l William Paterson University l YoungArts- National YoungArts Foundation l Youth Performing Arts School

asn is non-profit association founded in 1981, dedicated to promoting excellence in arts education by supporting and recognizing students, leaders, educators, schools, institutions, and organizations

arts schools network | kristy@artsschoolsnetwork.org | http://www.artsschoolsnetwork.org
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