Applications Due Friday to Join 2016 LAA+ Schools
Through Friday, the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts’ Louisiana A+ Schools (LAA+) program is accepting applications for the 2016/2017 academic year. LAA+ is a network that provides teachers with the essentials to think more creatively about how students can apply learning to the real world, and how they can present curricula in ways that nurture the whole student. At the center of this program is the use of the arts in every subject, in every classroom.
Louisiana A+ Schools values the arts as essential to the learning process. Click here to learn more.
Joining the A+ Network requires a significant time and resource commitment from a school’s entire staff. We anticipate adding 3-10 schools for the 2016/2017 school year.
During the 2014/2015 academic year, Dr. James Catterall of the Centers for Research on Creativity (CRoC) in Los Angeles, California, directed a research team to study three high poverty and failing first-year Louisiana A+ Schools.
During the year, Dr. Catterall’s team conducted a total of 50 classroom observations in 20 classrooms across all three schools, led numerous teacher focus groups, interviewed principals, and surveyed LAA+ staff and trainers. Their study confirmed that with arts integration:
- School climate and student engagement improved
- Students were given opportunities to grow as critical thinkers and artists
- Parental involvement increased
Click here to see more exciting results from this study and to learn how arts integration is transforming schools in Louisiana.