In a groundbreaking pilot program, Summer Arts for Learning (SALA) has joined forces with the Baltimore City Public Schools' (City Schools) Extended School Year program to dramatically enhance student learning. The Extended School Year (ESY) initiative, a creation of the Office of Special Education, boosts academic engagement with students during their time away from school in the summer, thereby increasing the likelihood of students reaching their learning milestones.
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The unique collaboration between the structured learning of City School's ESY program and SALA's art-integrated sensory experiences is designed to support student growth - academically, socially, and emotionally. The City Schools and SALA collaboration boasts talented teaching artists from all facets of the arts. Students participate in different art modalities, whether drawing, acting, or participating in musical activities. This program provides them with the opportunity to explore sculpture, collage, painting, and musical theater to help identify and express emotions.
Morgan Kelley has been a special educator at City Schools for over a decade. During the school year, she teaches at Glenmount and serves as a teaching artist coach during the summer with SALA. Kelley started supporting SALA initiatives ten years ago as a special education coach, but this is her first year as a site director to mark this new venture alongside City Schools.
We had the opportunity to speak with her about the impact of this program, which was piloted this summer at Fort Worthington and Dorothy I. Heights, respectively. Kelley works hands-on with teaching artists, providing them with the best practices and approaches to succeed in educating our students. Versatility and teamwork are essential coaching themes as different educators share classrooms during the program. A great teacher-student ratio and dynamic lesson collaborations ensure the highest effect for our students.
"A student may have a small group activity where they count seeds on a watermelon and then create a painting of the watermelon while learning about primary versus secondary colors. This activity integrating the special educator, and the fine arts professional provides a more engaging experience for that student rather than just a worksheet to practice their math facts."
Kelley encourages families to mobilize as a community to extend programs like these further. She says, "This is the beginning of a chapter for Baltimore City Public Schools and Summer Arts for Learning, and it's only up from here."
Community engagement is not only an essential part of the program but the backbone of its success. Families can significantly enhance the program's impact by engaging intentionally and frequently with their students, having conversations to learn their interests, and supplementing academic learning with home and family activities that harness student passions. As Kelley puts it, 'Amazing things come from these conversations. There's a quote that says, 'Ideas turn into thoughts, thoughts turn into actions. Someone had an idea years ago (for this program), and here we are.'' This is the power of community involvement.
Click here to read more Progress Reports on City Schools initiatives.