On Monday, January, 25th the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts staff visited the headquarters of A+ Schools in Oklahoma City, OK. We attended a daylong workshop with our partner the THEA Foundation from Little Rock, AR.
Oklahoma A+ Schools® is Oklahoma’s only research-based arts-integrated and whole school network with a mission of nurturing creativity in every learner. Located on the campus of the University of Central Oklahoma, OK A+ provides schools with ongoing professional development, an intricate network of support, and an active research component conducted by university professors. Spanning the state and growing every year, this network of 65 schools represents every kind of school from early childhood through high school, in urban, suburban and rural Oklahoma.
As part of our visit, we even had the chance to see an actual A+ School in operation. We could easily see the excitement and motivation to learn in all of the students involved in arts-integrated learning at Russell Dougherty Elementary. Thank you to Principal Stafford for a great tour!
We want to thank everyone at A+ Schools and also the Kirkpatrick Foundation for sharing with the THEA Foundation and GRFA about how they operate a successful network of arts-integrated schools. We hope to one day use some of what we learned in the creation of a similar network of schools in Louisiana and Arkansas.
