(April 5, 2016) Santa Fe, NM – New Mexico School for the Arts is one of fifteen schools in the country to be selected by Edutopia, an initiative published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, to be featured in their series “Schools that Work.” The series profiles K-12 schools, districts, and programs that are improving the ways in which students learn – filming and showcasing innovative practices that lead to schools working. The series focuses on evidence-based successes and uses how-to videos and tip lists to help develop educational leadership.
NMSA’s administration and faculty met with Edutopia several times in the run-up to their selection, so the foundation could get to know the program and hone in on the strategies that lead to NMSA’s high achievement rates in arts and academics. The foundation will feature practices and strategies that other schools can take and incorporate with relative ease into their own curriculum. Some such practices exercised by NMSA are performance-based assessments, interim assessments, data analysis from teachers, and distributed leadership; that is, how students are involved in school culture, the student advisory board, and various ways students feel empowered to take leadership roles in solving school problems.
Assistant Principal Eric Crites remarked, “It’s very exciting that our students are achieving such amazing things in arts and academics, and that we’ll be able to share some of those strategies with others.”
Edutopia will be visiting NMSA to film, observe, and interview teachers and students on April 25, 26, and 27.
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NMSA provides access to a rigorous mastery arts and academic high school education for youth with passion and aptitude in the arts, leading to post-secondary learning, careers in the arts, and lives that contribute to society.
NMSA is a public/private partnership comprised of the NMSA-Art Institute, a nonprofit art educational institution, and NMSA High School. NMSA’s purpose is to provide the highest standards of excellence in preparing New Mexico’s artistically talented students to compete in the national arena for post-secondary education and/or professional careers in the arts. NMSA offers pre-professional instruction in the performing and visual arts and rigorous academics leading to a high school diploma. NMSA is located in the former St. Francis Cathedral School, 275 East Alameda in Santa Fe. For more information, visit: www.NMSchoolForTheArts.org.