Who: San Marino Unified School District
What: A partnership with SMUSD for professional development and a short-term student workshop series
Staff: Susie Shapiro

Fourteen months ago, Billie Jean Knight, Assistant Superintendent Instructional Services, brought to the Music Center Education Division San Marino Unified School District's newly developed strategic plan to integrate at the elementary level "a comprehensive, consistent visual and performing arts program that is discipline based and standards aligned."(1) Included in the plan was professional development for classroom teachers in the District's two elementary schools, Valentine and K.L. Carver, with the opportunity to collaborate with professional artists; and student interaction "with professional artists during instructional experiences and performances." (1)

And so a partnership was begun, with the Music Center Education Division joining the District to help their vision for Arts Education become a reality.

In the fall of 2004, MCED administered its ArtStrategy® survey to the staff of both elementary schools. This tool gathers information on the status of a school's arts education programs in eight key areas, including curriculum, resources and teacher capacity. With the resulting data, the District's Arts Planning Committee, composed of a core group of teachers who assisted in the District planning process and served as a conduit to the other teachers on each campus, was able to make their own assessments and identify trends and patterns for each school based on teacher responses in the four arts disciplines - dance, music, theatre, and visual arts.

In addition, MCED artists provided a series of professional development workshops for the Committee throughout their planning process to inform their thinking on professional development models for their plan.

Year two of the District's plan began the implementation phase, with MCED's role expanding to include in-services to all teachers and student modeling workshops for all grade levels, with a focus on Theatre. Last month, the staff of Carver and Valentine Schools came together for a day of Professional Development. At a morning session with MCED artist David Prather, the educators were introduced to the five component strands and key content standards of California's Visual and Performing Arts Framework and Standards for Theatre.

Using the "4-Wheel Learning Cycle," teachers assessed their prior knowledge, became experts through creative tasks and made meaningful connections to their grade level application of the key content standards. In the afternoon session, teachers met with the MCED artists that will work in the classrooms this year providing hands-on workshops for their students, and who will serve as coaches/mentors to the teachers.

At the end of their 5-year plan the District hopes "to provide an integrated, comprehensive, standards-based arts instruction in drama, visual arts, music, and dance for every child in every classroom." (1) MCED is proud to play a part in helping the San Marino Unified School District as it embarks on implementing this important arts education plan.

(1) Excerpt and Goals taken from the San Marino Unified School District Memorandum of May 4, 2004, titled, "Arts in Every Classroom: A Vision for Integrated Visual and Performing Arts."

For information about how an artist can be a part of your district or school program, call (213) 250-ARTS or e-mail us at schoolprograms@musiccenter.org.

Written by Marlene Leuenhagen, Associate Director, School Programs