Nine schools across Los Angeles County recently received state recognition for providing outstanding arts education, including several LAUSD campuses.
Nearly half of the 19 schools to receive the state education department’s 2023 California Exemplary Arts Education Award are in LA County — with the Los Angeles and Burbank unified school districts tying for the largest share overall.
The ninth LA County school, Washington Elementary, is part of the Compton Unified School District.
The schools that received the award “provided high-quality arts curriculum and instruction and assessment,” Tony Thurmond, the state’s superintendent of public instruction, said in a statement.
The schools also offered “high-quality professional learning for staff who are responsible for providing arts learning,” Thurmond added, “and access to high-quality, culturally responsive arts instruction for all students, including English learners, special education students and other special populations.”
Eligible campuses had to demonstrate that they offer instruction in a minimum of three arts disciplines — dance, media arts, music, theater and/or visual arts — during the regular school day and show that equitable opportunities for accessing these programs is available to all student groups.
The four LAUSD campuses to receive the award are located throughout the district’s boundaries, from San Pedro to North Hollywood. They are:
South Shores Magnet School for the Visual & Performing Arts, in San Pedro.
Humanities and Arts (HARTS) Academy of Los Angeles in Harbor City.
The Maywood Center for Enriched Studies, in Maywood.
The Walter Reed Middle School in North Hollywood.
“A holistic education that incorporates physics and orchestra, engineering and painting, chemistry and drama,” LAUSD Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho said in a statement, “has positive signifiers in the overall well-being and performance for students.”
The four Burbank Unified School District campuses are Joaquin Miller Elementary, William McKinley Elementary, Providencia Elementary and Thomas Edison Elementary.
Two other Southern California schools also received the arts award, Temecula Valley High, part of the Temecula Valley Unified School District; and Meadows Arts and Technology Elementary School, which is in Thousand Oaks and is part of Ventura County Office of Education.
The California Department of Education announced the arts award recipients on Jan. 24. The state department will honor those recipients at the California School Recognition Program ceremony on Feb. 16 at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim.
“Arts education boosts school attendance, academic achievement, and college attendance rates,” Thurmond said in his statement. “Arts programs also improve school climate and promote higher self-esteem and social-emotional development for our students.”