The Center for Arts Education Awards 150 New Parents As Arts Partners Grants
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THE CENTER FOR ARTS EDUCATION AWARDS 150 NEW PARENTS AS ARTS PARTNERS GRANTS
Grants Stimulate Parent Participation in New York City Public Schools
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - January 23, 2008, New York, NY - The Center for Arts Education (www.cae-nyc.org), the leading voice in stimulating and sustaining quality arts education in New York City public schools, is pleased to announce that new Parents As Arts Partners (PAAP) grants have been awarded to 150 New York City public schools for the spring 2008 semester. The grants, totaling nearly $450,000, will be used by each school to implement original arts programs for families designed to suit each school’s individual needs.
Parents and teachers from all 150 grantee schools will gather at New York University’s Helen and Martin Kimmel Center for University Life, 60 Washington Square South, on Thursday, January 31, 2008. Grantees and CAE staff will work together at morning workshops and afternoon breakout sessions to jumpstart programs with insight into successful program design, building parent advocates and connecting to New York City’s vast creative industry. Key sessions include:
Morning Workshops (10:00-11:45)
How will you know if your program is a success?
Tips for recruiting parents and families to participate
Site Visits: witnessing the work
Afternoon Workshops (1:15-3:30)
Sustaining your program beyond the Life of the PAAP Grant
Making the Connections: Parents As Arts Career Partners
Empowering Parents to be Active Arts Supporters
Numerous studies indicate that parent involvement is a key factor in a child’s academic success and most American parents believe that arts education is essential to a quality education. This program uses the arts as a means of encouraging parents to take an active role in their children’s education by participating in arts-based activities relating to current school-day arts instruction and arts integration into English Language Arts, science, math and social studies.
“Parents who are directly involved with school arts programs often become advocates for arts education,” states Jill Braufman, Board Chair, The Center for Arts Education. “Through these rewarding arts experiences with their children, schools and cultural partners, parents see firsthand the important role the arts play in their children’s learning.”
This year, 150 schools were awarded grants including 20 from the Bronx; 52 from Brooklyn; 26 from Manhattan; 40 from Queens; and 12 from Staten Island. In addition:
New programs scheduled for this year include PS 361in Manhattan where parents will create a labyrinth around a 9-foot sculpture in the school courtyard. Another new program at PS 465 in Far Rockaway will create a 4-minute rap video on math to be distributed on the internet and to other schools. Summaries for all 150 PAAP Grant Programs will be sent out in the coming weeks and will also be made available at www.cae-nyc.org
Parents As Arts Partners is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. The program is also made possible with support from The Annenberg Foundation, The Booth Ferris Foundation, The New York Community Trust, JPMorgan Chase, and Citi Foundation.
About Parents As Arts Partners (PAAP)
The Parents As Arts Partners (PAAP) grant program was created in response to research that demonstrated the positive impact of parental involvement on a child’s success in school and the effectiveness of the arts as a means of cultivating that involvement. Since the inception of the grant program in 1998, The Center for Arts Education (CAE) has awarded more than 1100 grants to over 500 schools, totaling $4 million in funding.
These grants support quality arts programs in New York City public schools that allow parents and families to experience the creative process, explore other curriculum subjects through the arts and take advantage of the City’s many cultural and community resources. PAAP stimulates parental participation in NYC public schools, educates parents to advocate for arts education and connects families with NYC’s arts and cultural resources.
All programs address New York State’s Learning Standards in both the arts and career development. Schools have used PAAP funding to develop arts programs specific to the needs of their school communities. Individual programs have focused on improving literacy and math skills, engaging parents of ELL students and special needs populations, and connecting to the cultural heritages of participating families.
About The Center for Arts Education (CAE)
The Center for Arts Education (CAE) is committed to restoring, stimulating, and sustaining quality arts education as an essential part of every child’s education. CAE provides information and resources that demonstrate the benefits of and need for arts education as part of a quality, balanced education. CAE also identifies and supports exemplary partnerships and programs that demonstrate how the arts contribute to learning and student achievement. CAE is dedicated to influencing educational and fiscal policies that will support arts education in all of the City’s public schools. Since its founding in 1996, CAE has awarded nearly $40 million in private and public funding to support arts education.
