The University of North Texas, which houses the North Texas Institute, provides continuing education opportunities for summer program participants and serves as a resource for the 18 elementary schools in our district, all of which now offer comprehensive arts education from prekindergarten through sixth grade. Shady Brook has been able to use a combination of grants and state compensatory education funds to underwrite the modest costs associated with school-site implementation. We now have a first-rate art specialist who is thoroughly grounded in both the theory and practice of comprehensive arts education. Success breeds success, and when good teachers see good instructional practices, they can't wait to try them. The impact of comprehensive arts education on teaching and learning at Shady Brook has been profound, and has enabled us to view our entire core curriculum as a meaningful whole rather than as isolated subjects.
Art is our bridge for bringing seemingly disparate subjects together.
In a science class, for example, the teacher often uses art prints to demonstrate scientific principles. The visual image of an old wooden sailing ship going through an ice field stimulates discussion on how an ice floe is produced, how water behaves in a frozen state, and how much ice floats above the surface and how much below. At the same time, students can analyze and critique the artwork itself. The way we approach art at Shady Brook, especially art criticism, demands that students comprehend difficult concepts and express themselves intelligently and imaginatively. One of the best pieces of student writing I've seen came as the result of a class visit to the Amon Carter Museum of Western Art in Fort Worth.