Arts in Education Roundtable Responds to City Budget Cuts
It's no secret that funding for arts education in the NYC Public Schools has experienced significant cuts in recent years, leaving many schools without arts teachers or classes. To help fill this gap, the NYC Arts in Education Roundtable has led advocacy efforts that have resulted in much-needed funding for partnerships between schools and arts organizations. As a member organization of the Roundtable, S'Cool Sounds is proud to partner with schools across the city who have used this funding to support music programs for their students.
Committed to transforming schools through the arts, the Roundtable advocates for universal, equitable access to arts education in all NYC schools and communities. In 2022, as a part of their It Starts with the Arts campaign, they established the Support for Arts Instruction Initiative in partnership with the NY City Council and the NYC Public Schools. Over the past three years, this effort has secured $125M+ in dedicated federal stimulus funding for arts education in the NYC Public Schools, earmarked to support academic recovery and social-emotional wellbeing through the arts.
Initiative funds can be used for partnerships with arts and cultural organizations, trips to museums and performances, supplies and instructional materials, arts education services, and teacher professional development. After surveying 120 schools who participated in the inaugural year of the Support for Arts Instruction Initiative:
98% of schools agree the initiative helped increase access to arts education at their school.
94% of schools agree the initiative helped increase student achievement in the arts.
97% of schools agree that this project helped increase engagement within the school.
Now in its second year, the Support for Arts Instruction Initiative has allocated $4 million to 199 schools, with support from the NYC City Council in partnership with Mayor Eric Adams. As a result, S'Cool Sounds has been invited to establish several new residencies for the spring semester, ranging across grade levels and boroughs. Just some of these include an Arabic music program for grades K-2 in Queens, an after-school ukulele program in Brooklyn, and a high school drumming elective in the Bronx.
Not only will these programs support student academic success, mental health, and parent involvement, they will also foster a safe environment for students to learn important life skills to help them reach their full potential — such as empathy, problem solving, perseverance, focus, and collaboration.
When asked about SCS's value in the NYC schools and the NYC arts ecosystem in general, Kimberly Olsen, Executive Director of the NYC Arts in Education Roundtable, shared this: "S’Cool Sounds works to center and celebrate joy, diversity, creativity, and learning through the power of music. Nina, Louise, and the entire SCS team have thoughtfully crafted programs that uplift music traditions from around the world that give students a pathway to interact with a culturally-rich learning environment and see themselves reflected within their curriculum."
Your contribution can help bring SCS's uplifting programs to even more students across NYC, helping to transform schools through the arts.
Our schools have been talking about us! Check out this montage from the recent Alegría Musical assembly at P.S. 133, part of their S'Cool Sounds Family Engagement Series.
