VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS PLAN 2005-2007

Emery Unified School District
Anthony M. Smith, Ph.D., Superintendent

Date of scheduled Curriculum Committee presentation: January 9, 2006

Date of scheduled first board reading: January 18, 2006_

Date of board approval: ______________

Names of persons who participating on the team developing the plan:

Name	Role
Kathy Crow	VPA Coordinator, EUSD
Ameerah Brown	ESS Student
Brittany Collins	ESS Student
Brynnda Collins	Parent
Joe Frantz	Assistant Superintendent, EUSD
Archana Horsting	Director, Kala Art Institute
Laura Kamian	Arts Provider
Sabrina Klein	Director, Julia Morgan Center for Performing Arts
Liz Lindsley	ACOE Arts Anchor Coordinator
Ruth Mathis	ESS Teacher
Louise Music	ACOE Arts Coordinator
Jeannie O’Connor	Arts Provider
Mark Salinas	ESS School Coach
Josh Simon	EUSD Board Vice President
Tony Smith	Superintendent, EUSD
George Spencer	Music Teacher, Emery Secondary School (ESS)
Leslie Sumrall	Emery Education Foundation
Sharon Wasserman	Community Art Outreach
Sharon Wilchar	45^th Street Artists' Cooperative Community Liaison, Emeryville Youth Art Program Coordinator

INTRODUCTION and VISION

The EUSD vision is, “Families, students, teachers, staff, and community lead our district to continuously create academic excellence and equity for each student.”

The EUSD Visual and Performing Arts Plan unites our partnerships with the Alameda County Office of Education (ACOE) through the Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership, and the City and community of Emeryville, through the Emeryville Youth Services Advisory Committee (EYSAC).

EUSD is the Arts Learning Anchor School District in Alameda County, in a network of Arts Anchor Schools and Model Arts Program (MAP) districts. The Alliance vision is, “Equitable classrooms through arts learning for every child, in every school, every day.”

The EYSAC vision is, “to fully develop the potential of all youth and provide choices for students in order to cultivate each child’s gifts and talents; to create and sustain a safe, nurturing and enriching environment in which youth can flourish and become contributing members of society; a strong and active partnership among the City, EUSD and all segments of the community, so that powerful learning is a citywide experience and responsibility.”

Our purpose is to unite the EUSD, ACOE/AALL and ESAC visions in an arts plan and transform our district from one with distinct, varied and rich arts activities, to a district with a comprehensive, spiraled curriculum. The EYSAC’s Center for Community Life (CCL) and the Arts Alliance’s Teaching for Understanding Framework (TFU) are at the heart of creating equitable classrooms in which every child succeeds. The CCL enables community relationships to support student learning. Our partnerships with the local arts colony and the broader community power student success. The arts are uniquely capable of deepening these relationships and building common understandings. The TFU provides a paradigm to reach the common goal of increasing student achievement in all domains.

Three major areas of action are invisioned:

1 The District Arts Learning Team (DALT) will strengthen assessment and accountability through making learning visible via performances of understanding (art shows, performances, and parent involvement.)

2 A Teaching and Coaching Exchange will train artists and teachers to work together toward this end, with support from Harvard’s Project Zero.

3 An arts coordinator will work with teachers, artists-in-residence, and the community to bring this plan to life.

The following vignette of a secondary school student in our future may help to paint our vision:

Anthony jumps out of bed at 6 AM and checks his computer monitor. There is nothing new from his teacher, just the notes he sent to himself to remind his mother that he was going to stay for Community Jazz Band practice and to bring his AP Art portfolio. It was time for 10 pieces to be photographed. He shares the newspaper with his sister as they both look for an announcement about the upcoming school talent show. His sister, Monica, is going to sing while he plays the keyboard and his friends play back up. Anthony, a senior, has been in the talent show every year he has been at Emery but his sister, a seventh grader, is performing for the first time. She loves to sing and has been looking forward to this since the second grade. Their whole family has already marked the calendar and is planning to come. His mom is helping to sell tickets in the community and several other parents are serving refreshments after the show.

At 7 AM Anthony and Monica walk along San Pablo Avenue to Emery Secondary School. The Art Along the Avenue is displaying a sculpture by an artist they know. They have visited this artist studio and the artist came into their art classes to do a special project. Monica sees her name on the honor roll poster in a store window and Anthony sees the mural that he worked on as a sophomore.

They arrive at school and Anthony heads for the Art room to drop off his portfolio. He passes the art display case and sees one of his paintings on display. He sees banners advertising the Talent Show. A friend tells him that he can’t make it to the open studio hour, as he is finishing up his music CD in the computer lab. They are going to use this music as part of their Talent Show performance and have plans to work together later on some video composing. Other Art students arrive for the open studio hour and focus on a variety of art projects for different classes. Anthony turns in his artwork to be photographed and works the rest of the hour on a painting.

The first bell rings and Anthony heads off to his Creative Writing class. He has three new poems to share and looks forward to the spoken word part of the class. The class applauds when he performs his poems and he gains new insights about poetry and performing from his classmates. He thinks about maybe performing one of his poems at the Talent Show but knows that he still needs more practice before he is ready to perform in front of the general public. In all of his classes the teachers use the same Studio Habits of Mind for assessment and critique. His teachers all use the Teaching for Understanding Framework and meet regularly to plan units of study that are interrelated with a shared vocabulary. Anthony’s poetry and the paintings that he just turned in are performances of understanding for the latest unit of study.

In PE, Anthony divides his time between sports and choreographing the dance steps that he and his friends will use to back up his sister in the Talent Show. His sister has been receiving guidance in her singing from a girl in the senior class who also loves to sing. They sing together in the community choir every Thursday Night at the Center for Community Life.

After PE, Anthony goes to lunch. During lunch he sells tickets to the talent show. Business is brisk. A friend checks in with him about their AP Biology diagrams when there is a break in the sales. After lunch Anthony drops off the ticket receipts as part of his Economics project and then goes to AP Biology. AP Biology is twice a week in a block schedule and Anthony looks forward to the lab time. After school he stops by the student store for a quick snack and then goes on to Jazz Band Practice.

At Jazz Band practice Anthony hears about the experiments in sound that were happening in the physics lab. He becomes curious and decides to drop by the physics lab before school tomorrow and find out what is going on. Jazz band meets after school twice a week and today is the day that musicians from the community join the ESS students. Anthony feels a thrill at the big band sound that so many musicians make together. After practice he talks with a saxophone player who writes and plays music for TV commercials. Anthony thinks, “I could do that” and asks the saxophonist about a possible internship with the advertising company.

Anthony gets home, tired but satisfied after his long day. His parents are proud of their children’s artistic accomplishments and enjoy all the comments they hear about their art on display and their performances. The parents plan to attend the parent events at the Center for Community Life to get more information on college and career options in the arts. They can see that the arts contribute to Anthony and Monica never wanting to miss school and their excitement about learning.

Anthony sends himself an email reminder to go to the open physics lab tomorrow before school to find out more about sound and then starts his homework.

WHERE WE HAVE BEEN AND WHERE WE ARE GOING

This is year three of the Visual and Performing Arts Plan. Until this year, the primary focus has been to put programs and services in place so that EUSD would make strides towards our goal of offering quality arts learning, in all four arts strands, for every child, every day. We depended heavily on community partnerships and continue to depend heavily on community partnerships to accomplish this. Each year we increased the programs and services although this year the dance program at Emery Secondary School has been severely impacted by the loss of a credentialed dance teacher. Refer to the chart of current arts programs for details. This is the first year as the Arts Learning Anchor District for Alameda County and as such we will broaden the scope of arts learning to include arts learning that is integrated into academic instruction. Teachers and artists will be given professional development to guide this transition. The goals in this plan have been carefully thought out to lead the district towards the goals of the Emeryville Center for Community Life.

ANALYSIS OF CURRENT PRACTICE

EUSD has deepened its connections with its partners in the last year. In addition to the development of the district as an Arts Anchor Learning District with ACOE, we also have stronger partnerships with the California College of the Arts, Center for Art and Public Life with their Athena Project, in which 9 middle school students visited CCA each week last fall to create art with college students for senior citizens. The Pixar partnership grew with the animation (5^th grade) and public service announcement (HS) projects, and the plans for the apple orchard project (6^th & 7^th grades) this coming year. Partnerships with the City grew through new public arts projects, and will be developing with AC Transit and Kala through a project to develop a Center of Community Life mural on multiple street-facing walls of ESS and the AC Transit Switching Yard.

Art IS Education

EUSD has participated in the Alameda countywide showcase of arts learning, Art IS Education, since it was first initiated in 2000. This has grown from a one-time event to a highly visible, widely anticipated annual countywide festival showcasing visual and performing arts in public school curriculum. Art IS Education serves to expand district participation across the county, further empower districts to advocate for and create programming specific to their communities, and deepen public engagement with arts learning that is happening in our schools. Art IS Education involved 34,500 students in 169 events in 18 school districts attended by 345,000 parents and community members.

In Emeryville, Art IS Education 2005 was celebrated by:

o An annual month long art show at Emeryville City Hall

o An art show along San Pablo Avenue

o An art show at Cuppa Cabana

o An art show at Rubios at Bay Street

o Two art shows at ACOE

o A performance of both ESS and AYES instrumental music students at City Hall

o A performance of Indian dance students at City Hall

o A procession from Emery Secondary School (ESS) to City Hall on the day of the celebration

The dance program suffered with the loss of a certificated dance teacher. The drama program has gone through ups and downs as Opera Piccola became a stronger partner, but we were unable to maintain some of our work with the Berkeley Rep. We do have a new drama program with Mrs. Nelson for Kindergarten and first grades.

The after school elementary instrumental music program, supported by community benefactor Marceline Krafchick, has expanded dramatically from 30 to 70 students. In addition, we are beginning a song flute music program, within the school day, for primary students. ESS Apple Music program is on hold until the purchase of necessary software. The Annual Music Fundraiser will take place this March thanks to the support of our community partner, Ex’pression College for Digital Arts and the Emery Education Foundation (EEF). The ESS instrumental music students perform with professional musicians in a premier venue to raise money to support the instrumental music programs in the district.

Anna Yates ES continues to hold an annual school-wide Art History Project in the spring, in which each classroom does an in-depth study of an artist and his or her work. Sharon Wasserman continues to teach art on some Saturdays in the playground.

Current Arts Programs

Grade Level	Visual Art	Music	Dance	Theater Arts
Kinder- garten	Kala Artist Jamie Morgan			Mrs. Nelson
1^st grade	1.Kala’ Artists in the Schools, standards based instruction: Jamie Morgan 2. Artists in the Schools: Jeannie O’Connor teaches photography after school	Song flute instruction during school with James Carraway.	Standards based dance instruction taught by Nancy Karp + Dancers	Mrs. Nelson
2^nd grade	1. Kala’ Artists in the Schools, standards based instruction: Jamie Morgan 2. Artists in the Schools: Jeannie O’Connor teaches photography after school	Song flute instruction during school with James Carraway.	Standards based dance instruction integrated with Math taught by Nancy Karp + Dancers
3^rd grade	1. Kala’ Artists in the Schools, standards based instruction: Jamie Morgan 2. Artists in the Schools: Jeannie O’Connor teaches photography after school 3. Sharon Wasserman teachers art and uses the TfU	Song flute instruction during school with James Carraway.	Artists in the Schools, Purnima Jha - Drumming, dance and storytelling
4^th grade	1. Kala’ Artist in the Schools, standards based instruction: Jamie Morgan 2. Artists in the Schools: Jeannie O’Connor teaches photography	After school instrumental music instruction: James Caraway	Artists in the Schools, Purnima Jha drumming, dance and storytelling
5^th grade	1. Kala’ Artist in the Schools, standards based instruction: Jamie Morgan 2. Artists in the Schools: Jeannie O’Connor teaches photography 3. Pixar animation project	1. After school, standards based instrumental music instruction: James Caraway 2. Pixar animation project		Pixar animation project
6^th grade	1. Kala’ Artists in the Schools, standards based instruction: Jamie Morgan 2. Artists in the Schools: Jeannie O’Connor 3. Sharon Wasserman teachers art and uses the TfU	After school standards based instrumental music instruction: James Caraway
7^th grade	1. Standards based Art instruction offered as an elective - taught by certificated teacher, Kathy Crow – two semesters of VPA is a graduation requirement – UC approved courses 2. Kala’ Artists in the Schools: Katherine McInnis every Tuesday 3. Harvard Project Zero, Arts Assessment research project, ongoing in all art classes with a focus on period 5 and 7 4. EYAP Artist in the Schools: Anne Wolf, Seed Project 5. City of Emeryville, Public Art Program, Knitting project w/ Laura Kamian	Standards based Music instruction offered as an elective - taught by certificated teacher, George Spencer
8^th grade	1. Standards based Art instruction offered as an elective - taught by certificated teacher, Kathy Crow – two semesters of VPA is a graduation requirement – UC approved courses 2. Kala’ Artists in the Schools: Katherine Mc Innis every Tuesday 3. TA From California College of the Arts 4. Harvard Project Zero, Arts Assessment research project, ongoing in all art classes with a focus on period 5 and 7 5. EYAP Artist in the Schools: Anne Wolf, Seed Project 6. City of Emeryville, Public Art Program, Knitting project w/ Laura Kamian	Standards based Music instruction offered as an elective - taught by certificated teacher, George Spencer		1.Opera Piccola teaches one class of Drama after school
9^th grade	1. Standards based Art instruction offered as an elective - taught by certificated teacher, Kathy Crow – two semesters of VPA is a graduation requirement – UC approved courses 2. Kala’ Artists in the Schools: Katherine McInnis every Tuesday 3. TA From California College of the Arts 4. City of Emeryville, Public Art Program, Knitting project w/ Laura Kamian	Standards based Music instruction offered as an elective - taught by certificated teacher, George Spencer – two semesters of VPA is a graduation requirement – UC approved courses		Opera Piccola teaches one, standards based class of Drama after school Opera Piccola works with English classes, standards based using Project Zero/ TfU
10^th grade	1. Standards based Art instruction offered as an elective - taught by certificated teacher, Kathy Crow – two semesters of VPA is a graduation requirement – UC approved courses 2. Kala’ Artists in the Schools: Katherine McInnis every Tuesday 3. TA From California College of the Arts 4. City of Emeryville, Public Art Program, Knitting project w/ Laura Kamian	Standards based Music instruction offered as an elective - taught by certificated teacher, George Spencer – two semesters of VPA is a graduation requirement – UC approved courses		Opera Piccola teaches one class of Drama after school Opera Piccola works with English classes, standards based using Project Zero/ TfU
11^th grade	1. Standards based Art instruction offered as an elective - taught by certificated teacher, Kathy Crow – two semesters of VPA is a graduation requirement – UC approved courses 2. Kala’ Artists in the Schools: Katherine McInnis every Tuesday 3. TA From California College of the Arts 4. PIXAR PSA project 5. City of Emeryville, Public Art Program, Knitting project w/ Laura Kamian	Standards based Music instruction offered as an elective - taught by certificated teacher, George Spencer – two semesters of VPA is a graduation requirement – UC approved courses		Opera Piccola teaches one class of Drama after school
12^th grade	1. Standards based Art instruction offered as an elective - taught by certificated teacher, Kathy Crow – two semesters of VPA is a graduation requirement – UC approved courses 2. Kala’ Artists in the Schools: Katherine McInnis every Tuesday 3. TA From California College of the Arts 4. PIXAR PSA project 5. Knitting project w/ Laura Kamian	Standards based Music instruction offered as an elective - taught by certificated teacher, George Spencer – two semesters of VPA is a graduation requirement – UC approved courses		Opera Piccola teaches one class of Drama after school

ARTS LEARNING ANCHOR DISTRICT

Our focus question: How can arts learning, as content and process, be a platform for transforming our community relationships and creating equitable classrooms where every child succeeds?

Understanding Goals (UG)

How does EUSD evolve from a district with diverse, unique arts activities, scattered throughout the curriculum, to a district with a comprehensive, spiraled plan with direction and intent for all K-12 students to have meaningful engagement in all four arts disciplines?

As the Arts Learning Anchor District, utilizing the Teaching for Understanding Framework, three guiding questions have been developed which will help focus our work in the arts starting in the fall of 2005 and continuing for several years.

1. How will arts learning as content and process be a platform for transforming community relationships?

2. How will arts learning as content and process create equitable classrooms where every child succeeds?

3. How will arts learning as content and process evolve into a comprehensive, spiraled plan?

In adopting this focus and these understanding goals we believe we will take major strides towards many of the priorities established in our original 2003-2004 plan by the District Arts Team as diagrammed below.

UG 1 Platform for transforming community relationships	UG 2 Equitable classrooms where every child succeeds	UG3 Comprehensive spiraled plan
Increase connections to the community through the arts Use the Arts as reflection of our school district	Develop interdisciplinary teaching Develop partnerships with community artists and arts organizations Ensure that cultural diversity is reflected in arts learning opportunities Develop ideas for fusing instruction in Dance, Theater, Music and Art	Expand arts Learning opportunities Improve arts learning facilities Develop funding resources Refine the spiraling of arts learning

CHALLENGES TO BE ADDRESSED

• To bring dance classes to Emery Secondary
• To use art and project-based learning to help break down artificial barriers between disciplines
• To refine the spiraling of arts learning

RATIONALE FOR USING THE TEACHING FOR UNDERSTANDING FRAMEWORK

The Teaching For Understanding Framework, from Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Project Zero, is a tool for designing, conducting, and reflecting on classroom practices that nourish student understanding. We anticipate that this framework will provide a common language or way of co-planning instruction between community-based artists and the classroom teacher. Through a partnership with ACOE we are able to introduce this tool in a learning community based in the EUSD community.

It will also be a powerful tool for teachers and administrators who strive to create equitable classrooms by adding to their repertoire of resources used to meet the multiple learning styles of their students. This framework will enable teachers to examine and shape their own classroom practice according to the achievement goals of the district, their individual goals and teaching style, and their student’s particular approaches to learning. The Framework provides a way for both classroom teachers and artists to continually assess student progress towards an understanding goal, sharpening the focus of their efforts, examining deep-seated assumptions and priorities that underlie educational practice and refining those approaches to content and ideas trying out new teaching strategies.

It is best to experience this new framework with the support and feedback from colleagues. Therefore we have created the Teaching and Coaching Exchange and time for co-planning units of instruction to support teachers and teaching/ artists in stretching and honing their practice.

The framework involves ongoing feedback to students in formal and informal ways having established criteria for performance with students. This feedback gives students information not only about how well they have carried out past performances but also about how they might improve future ones.

ACTION STEPS 2005-2006

With $5,000 made available from ACOE for the Arts Anchor program we plan to:

1 Convene a Teaching and Coaching Exchange in which key arts partners will work with classroom teachers to share a common framework for interdisciplinary teaching. This will address Understanding Goals 2 & 3 above. With stipends to teachers and artists we will provide the time for them to work with the Teaching For Understanding and Studio Habits of Mind Frameworks from Harvard Project Zero, carefully co-planning units of study that not only build art skills but also provide entry points into and support other curricular areas and the schools learning goals for all students. In the Teaching and Coaching Exchange work will also focus on District wide curriculum articulation assuring that students are consistently offered spiraling learning activities.

EXPECTATIONS FOR RECEIVING THE STIPEND:

• Attending three Teaching and Coaching Exchange sessions
• 4 hours of co-planning with the artist and teacher
• Together writing a unit plan
• Teacher participates in all lessons actively and as an observer of student learning keeping a journal which is shared with the artist
• Teacher eventually teaches a series of lessons supported by the artist.

2 Create an arts active parent outreach program which empowers parents and families through hands on arts activities to have a voice. Parents experience the power of arts learning so that they can be advocates for equitable classrooms though arts learning.

3 The District Arts Learning Team will strengthen assessment and accountability through making learning visible via performances of understanding (art shows, performances, and parent involvement.)

4 An arts coordinator will work with teachers, artists in residence, and the community to bring this plan to life.

OBJECTIVES FOR BRINGING THIS PLAN TO LIFE

To create equitable classrooms

WE WILL UNDERSTAND:

1. How to create a learning community that allows every child to succeed in meeting core academic standards and going beyond those standards in a way that expresses his/her own individual potential.

2. How a culture of cognition and reflection supports equitable classrooms that engage all students.

3. How to create a culture where students interact with adults to understand more about the world they live in, their role in their environment and their future. They will graduate with many choices and opportunities.

To develop learning partnerships

We will understand:

1. How the Center for Community Life can provide the environment in which the entire community is fostering learning.

2. How to create meaningful relationships with community members including artists, arts businesses and organizations that will foster opportunities for our children to develop and express their individual potential.

3. How all members of the community are welcomed and engaged with the Center for Community Life.

TEACHING AND COACHING EXCHANGE

Building upon the creative capital in the community and linking it in new ways to student success: