5408 SW 13th Street Gainesville, FL 32608 352-373-5223
"Academic Excellence Enhanced by the Arts"
Our school was awarded a "Best Practices" federal dissemination grant in 2002-03 and 2003-04.
Our staff shared information with other schools in the following areas:
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Strategies for Introducing Art, Music, Drama and Dance into a Curriculum |
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Preparation for Accreditation by Southern Association of Colleges and School |
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Teaching Strategies for Greatest Individual Achievement |
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Charter School Development, Management, and Financing |
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Outreach to Business and Educational Communities |
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Increasing Parental Involvement |
As a result of this project, we disseminated this information using the following methods:
| Consultation with Charter and District Schools |
| Teacher Training and Re-Certification Workshops |
| Publication and Distribution of a "Best Practices" Manual |
| Development and Maintenance of a School Website |
| Presentation of Grant Material at Educational Conferences |
| Production and Distribution of High Quality Videos |
In 2003, three videos were produced to assist in the dissemination of information about our program to other charter schools. All charter schools in Florida were notified of the scope and availability of these videos, with follow up outreach to other charter elementary schools.
Video Abstracts:
Best Practices at Expressions Learning Arts Academy - This video presents our philosophy and experience in starting and operating a successful charter school. The target audience for this video includes new and potential charter school founders, and those interested in charter schools with a specific emphasis.
Integrating Arts and Academics - Our teachers discuss their rationale for including various arts in basic curriculum to maximize learning retention, increase understanding of concepts, and to strengthen student ability to focus. Practical aspects of incorporating arts into the classroom curriculum are included.
Teaching Drama and Dance - These art forms are central to our enhanced curriculum. This video covers the philosophy, rationale, and implementation of dance and drama at Expressions. We demonstrate the methods we have used to successfully include these arts in our language arts and character building components. Suggestions are given for implementation in any elementary school.
Grant participants were:
Cheryl Valantis: Principal, Curriculum Resource Teacher
Sharon Kuchinski: Kindergarten, Dance Teacher
Jennifer Whyte: First Grade Teacher
Justin DeLeo: Second Grade Teacher
Juniper Digiovanni: Third Grade Teacher
Aase Zori: Fourth/Fifth Grade Teacher, Arts Curriculum Resource Teacher
Scot Davis: Drama, Chorus Teacher