By Haley Thomas, contributor
Stone Spring Elementary is one of five schools in the country that the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., has selected to participate in its arts integration program.
The Changing Education Through the Arts program introduces fresh approaches for arts specialists to teach the arts while also supporting teachers in incorporating the arts as they teach other subjects.
An integrated arts school model aims to stimulate creativity in classwork, which can help students “learn more easily and with greater motivation,” said Stone Spring Principal Norris Bunn at Tuesday’s Harrisonburg City School Board meeting.
“In a traditional model, you have art as its own standalone curriculum, so there’s a music class, there’s an art class, there may be others like drama classes,” Bunn said. “In an Integrated Arts model, you’re teaching the art form right alongside the content.”
In 2014, Stone Spring received the Kennedy Center’s designation as an “arts integration focus school.” Since that time, the school has worked to follow the arts integration model outlined by the Kennedy Center, but with “varying success,” Bunn said.
“In the past, the division has employed consultants and guest artists to provide professional development to the staff at Stone Spring,” Bunn said. “This approach has been difficult to sustain, as it is dependent on a small group of people rooted in the area. So if anybody that we’re relying on moves away, our source for professional development goes with them.”
When Bunn became the principal of Stone Spring, he said there wasn’t a plan in place to sustain the program. But J.R. Snow, the district’s visual and performing arts coordinator informed him of an opportunity with the Kennedy Center: joining a national network of arts integration schools.
Bunn said the application and interview process was rigorous, but Stone Spring ultimately made the Kennedy Center’s final list.
In addition to Stone Spring Elementary, the other four schools include:
- Paso Del Norte Fine Arts Academy in El Paso, Texas
- Doral Academy’s Fire Mesa Campus in Las Vegas
- Minor Community School in Birmingham, Alabama
- Central Elementary in Duncanville, Texas
Stone Spring has entered into a three-year commitment with the Kennedy Center’s program. During this time, Stone Spring educators will have access to an Arts Education Conference and site visits to schools in Washington, D.C., that follow arts integration models, as well as receive onsite training by the Kennedy Center.
Heather Eberly, music teacher and CETA Coordinator, was one of Stone Spring’s nine teachers who attended the Arts Education Conference in June.
“Having a team of nine people was just so powerful beyond the sessions we attended,” Eberly said. “The conversations that were happening in between sessions and during sessions, we really built collective efficacy and that was so important.”
Eberly said students will still have “specials,” such as music, art, and theater, but the general education classroom will now incorporate these subjects, too.
“I love to integrate art projects in my biology class all the time, and the students like it too, they really get into it,” board member Emma Phillips said after other members echoed their congratulations. “I think it’s great to have those extra tools in your toolbox as a teacher.”
School safety panel planned at Rocktown High
Following social media threats that led to the Harrisonburg Police Department arrest of a 16-year-old on Sept. 16, Superintendent Michael Richards announced that he is organizing a panel for parents and guardians to answer questions and share concerns regarding school safety.
A date for the panel has not yet been set, but Richards said he and his team are aiming for an evening during the week of Oct. 21. The panel will take place at Rocktown High School’s auditorium.
Thanks for reading The Citizen, which won the Virginia Press Association’s 2022 News Sweepstakes award as the top online news site in Virginia. We’re independent. We’re local. We pay our contributors, and the money you give goes directly to the reporting. No overhead. No printing costs. Just facts, stories and context. We value your support.
