About the A.R.T.s project

Arts in School CVUSD • A.R.T.s Project • Why Arts Education?

The Arts In School CVUSD began as a volunteer project, run by artist and CVUSD parent Jason Engelund. Partnering with the district and co-coordinating the Arts In Schools Committee with Superintendent Mrs. Parvin Ahmadi, along with the administrative help of Mr. Dustin Gacherieu, at the time Principal Jensen Ranch Elementary, the project aims to give teachers current resources in teaching the arts to all students in the district. Visit Jason Engelund's fine art website at jasonengelund.com.

2015/16 

Local parent and artist Jason Engelund begins working with teachers and administration. Engelund collaborates with principal Mrs Vivienne Paratore and they are awarded a grant from Crayola for arts education.

2016/17 

Engelund leads professional development workshops with the teachers of Chabot Elementary. Included in these workshops is the design workshopping and pilot usability of the A.R.T.s website. Through listening to teachers' feedback, testing and editing, the teachers help shape the website. 

2017/18 

The website was promoted to be used district wide and the Arts In School Committee meets to strengthen the teaching and school based arts community and address new areas to help improve and provide arts education for all students in CVUSD. The Castro Valley Chamber of Commerce partners for the annual Fall Festival, and uses the website to promote teacher lead student art exhibition, now an annual event.

2019 

New upgarded A.R.T.s website launched! This redesigend site is streamlined with select information to make Teacher Art easier. This new website is now optimized for viewing on phones and tablets.  

Letter from Jason Engelund 2016.

We have been selected as a 2016 Crayola Champion Creatively Alive Children grant recipient. Collaborating with the Castro Valley Unified School District and Chabot Elementary, we aredeveloping A.R.T.s Art Resources for Teachers.

Chabot is one of 20 elementary and middle schools nationwide that has been selected by Crayola and the National Association of Elementary School Principals to receive a “Champion Creatively Alive Children” school grant. The grant funds innovative programs aimed at fostering children’s critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication skills.

The Arts Resources for Teachers or A.R.T.s is an arts lesson planning guide and the foundation for year-long professional development for teachers at the elementary school. The A.R.T.s content is focused on highly relevant, contemporary approaches that range from developing perceptual skills and cultural context, to making informed aesthetic judgments that derive meaning from art.

The monthly professional development meetings cover art studio practices, art history from a global perspective, current Arts Education practices, Arts and Common Core, and Arts and California State Standards. With these in mind, teachers are writing new arts lesson plans their classrooms. Working together we are also crafting the Arts Resources for Teachers website, linked on the CVUSD Staff Resources. We will workshop this website into a useful tool full of resources for all CVUSD elementary teachers to use when putting together their own Arts Lesson Plans. The website focuses on K-5 arts education and will be available publicly and to all schools in the district to share our best practices in Arts Education.

To view the complete list of the 20 Champion Creatively Alive Children grant recipients, and find out how your school may apply next year visit Crayola.com.