Professional Development in Arts Integration

GCAC and the Columbus City Schools work together to support the efforts of arts education staff of local performing arts organizations in providing teacher trainings. Now supported as a national model, Columbus City Schools conducts its Professional Development In Arts Integration with GCAC, BalletMet Columbus, Opera Columbus and the Jazz Arts Group. The program is funded by a three-year Professional Development for Arts Educators grant from the US Department of Education.

During the program’s Summer Teacher Arts Institute, more than 140 arts and classroom teachers and 75 local teaching artists learn and utilize methods of integrating the arts throughout the curriculum while adhering to district and state academic content standards. With year two of the three-year project finished, evaluations show that participating CCS teachers feel the professional development sessions have been useful and effective. The third year of the project, which began October 1, includes 51 certified CCS arts and classroom teachers and 26 local teaching artists.