Arts Academy Revitalization Action Team

Arts Academy Meeting Notes, Sept. 21, 2006

September 21, 2006 at 1:40 pm | In Minutes |

Summary:

Next meeting: Monday, September 25th in the Music room.

Meeting with David Ruff will be [we hope] on 9/25 or 10/10.

Logistical items: Vicky will get Elizabeth the contact info for the Boston Arts Academy so that she can have a meeting with them (if possible) to discuss how they formed, and get a feeling for whether they could help us in our process.

Importance of vocational piece of the Arts Academy: We can reach more kids if we have a combined curriculum, expose kids to more artistic opportunities than they might get otherwise, and give artistic kids the skills to sell themselves as artists, network, and support themselves while doing their art.

"Selling" the Academy to parents: We’re giving parents and their children another educational choice. This could be a big selling point. It might help to be comprehensive..

"Selling" the students to colleges and employers: we need to work on what a diploma would look like (probably one with a "major" or "minor", or endorsements in specific areas of curriculum), so that our students can be successful when they graduate.

 

Present:

• Vicky Stubbs
• Dave Beane
• Dave Nichols
• Phil Divinsky
• Jill Irving
• Lisa Hicks
• Jane Krasnow
• Valerie Green
• Elizabeth Watson

Full Notes (paraphrased):

Agenda (from Vicky’s sheet):

• Select a date to meet with David Ruff
• Discuss Academy Models:
  • Boston Arts Academy
  • Academy Learning Model - NAF (www.naf.org)
  • Art + Vocation
• Begin envisioning "our" Academy

The meeting began with a discussion of the actions on the agenda (above). Vicky will e-mail David Ruff to tell him that we’re in the planning stages and to see if we can meet with him on 9/25 or 10/10.

Phil suggested that someone meet with the Boston Arts Academy and have a discussion about how they formed.

We need to think about creative ways to get college credit from business partners.

Can Elizabeth get appointments at the Boston Arts Academy on Friday, 10/6? Vicky will work on contacts.

Next, we discussed what our academy could be:

Phil: diversity is so important; we want to reach as many kids as possible, and we have a wonderful opportunity to do that (because we’re art + vocational)

Many agreed that kids need other skills [besides fine art]: networking, how to meet people, and make connections. They need to be able to "sell" themselves as artists, and it’s not a bad idea to know a vocation so you can pay the bills while you do your art.

There was a short discussion about what a diploma from the arts academy would look like, and general agreement that many schools are moving towards diplomas that show what the diploma is for. Our diploma should show what experience the student has in whatever the areas are, listing and highlighting a student’s skill sets. Diplomas might contain endorsements, areas of graduation (for example: music and carpentry), or "majors" and "minors", as some college diplomas have. Our challenge is to expose what the students have done, so they can be successful at getting a job or being accepted to college.

This opened up another discussion about whether this kind of multi-curricular diploma would be just for our academy, or whether it would be school-wide, and whether we should try to be a comprehensive high school. Casco Bay High School gives students another choice, just as we are giving students a choice. That could be a selling point. Maybe we should start with a comprehensive HS in the arts academy, and then possibly spread to other academies.

Phil suggested that we revisit our short- and long-term goals to help us form our vision.