Hundreds of immigrant families have been bussed here from Texas in recent months. And among the newcomers, many are children who, once they enter the city’s school system, are faced with not knowing the language and the impact of changing their lives in a different society.
Forty-five years following its founding, its action might never have been more relevant than now, when New York’s schools are overwhelmed by children with the need to learn English and adjust socially.
This is the Studio in a School program, an initiative that fosters the creative and intellectual development of students through art and whose content is adjusted to the profile of immigrants, those with a history of poverty and abuse.
Although the New York City school system is the largest and most diverse in the nation, figures from the Department of Education establish that more than 61% of English learners are Spanish speakers. With newcomers, mostly from Venezuela and other Latin American countries, that statistic has increased, giving rise to the need for more teachers specialized in multilingual teaching.
Facing the migration crisis
For Alexei Nichols, director of Bronx Public School 340, the program is essential because it achieves equity and that students respond to the needs of different cultures and is helping greatly to address the new immigration crisis.
“It opens a different door to attract children to school and connects them socially or emotionally, which helps them to succeed not only in school but also in society.”
Currently, Studio in a School is a kind of immersion program for newly arrived students. The program combines the skills of three professionals: the classroom teacher, the one who teaches them English as a second language and the art teacher, who have developed a learning curriculum that makes children develop self-esteem, it is noticed that they do their activities amid smiles, they are confident and believe in themselves, Nichols explained.
“It is a team effort between our teachers and Studio in a School experts, who contribute to the development of academic language either orally or in writing. Thanks to programs like this, students who come from all over the world have faster access to learning.”
The director added that the learning of new vocabulary in the art program can be applied to social studies, science, mathematics and other academic areas. For example, School 340 places special emphasis on the NYSESLAT (New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test), which is the state’s assessment to determine the level of language development for students learning English as a second language. One of the impacts of the Studio in a School program is that students are performing better in oral, writing and other sequential processes.
Currently, 135 students in grades 6, 7 and 8 receive art classes from Studio in a School. School 340 was selected in 2018 to initiate the pilot program in the arts and to date, 10 schools throughout the five boroughs of the city benefit from this initiative.
According to Ana Henríquez, assistant principal, the result is enrichment in the learning strategy that is complemented by workshops in the different grades, where students who are under a special education regime and who are learning at the same time also benefit. English as a second language in regular classes.
Tool to accelerate learning
Alison Scott-Williams, president of Studio in a School, said that the priority objective is to help students who come from different cultures and languages and when they arrive in this country they find themselves in an urgent need to learn English as an additional language.
She commented that some of the tools that the artists and teachers bring are like sentence starters so that the children can put the thoughts and their experiences they received into art to create their own academic language.
“What is relevant regarding the program is to ensure that students are emotionally relaxed, in the routine of learning and safe, in such a way that they can express themselves not only orally but, in the creative part, drawing even when they have not mastered the English language. ”.
He insisted that all the program does is help hundreds of children in their daily lives. The art class is a place where children have the opportunity to speak in a different way, to share their voices, which supports the academic development of the student, what is important is the creativity and individual voice of each child.
According to Scott-Williams, all this potential accelerates the development of learning in a way that they are entertained and academically involved to progress. He also highlighted that together with the Department of Education, the tools were created to speed up this process.
Alexa Fairchild, from the Office of Arts and Special Projects of the Department of Education, highlighted that the Studio in a School program was conceived in such a way that it complements the experience of the art teachers, of English as an additional language and the regular teacher of the class, as a way to develop more cohesive forms of learning. Additionally, this strategy is part of a professional development process for all teachers who take part in the program.
Likewise, Fairchild shared his experience of how the program has a strong impact among the students who have just arrived.
She said that when she visited the school, she noticed that there was a girl who was only in school for her first day or two and how she did not feel comfortable in an unfamiliar place. She then came back two or three weeks later and saw an incredible change in the girl. This time, she was more involved in what she was doing, helping with the materials, but she was doing it in Spanish. The little girl remembered her and proudly went to show her her work.
“This is an example of how the school, together with a program like this, helps children feel safe and the school becomes a place where they feel confident,” Fairchild said.
A response to the lack of budget
The Studio in a School program was founded in 1977 in response to a drastic reduction in the art budget for public schools due to a financial crisis in New York City.
The philanthropist and president emeritus of the Museum of Modern Art, Agnes Gund, said then that all children have the right to receive art education in schools. The program is individualized according to the needs of each school.
The Studio In a School organization, since its founding, has provided art education to more than 2.1 million children in New York City alone. All instructors are working artists, including leading and influential artists such as Teresita Fernández and Jeff Koons.
The initiative also collaborates and builds the capacity of those who support arts and creative development programs for young people both inside and outside of schools. It also serves youth by integrating the visual arts into teaching and learning while providing professional development for artists and teachers.
It is estimated that the Studio In A School program that is applied in 10 schools throughout the city currently benefits more than 1,000 students. The organization has trained 25 art teachers to join the Department of Education’s multilingual teacher curriculum. The initiative has the potential to reach 7,500 students.
Who is Agnes Gund?
For decades, she has been considered one of the most impactful philanthropists in the art world, but no one doubts that her activism has gone hand in hand with her devotion as an advocate for racial and gender equality and social justice. In 2017, with the sale of Roy Lichtenstein’s masterpiece – from his collection – she donated 100 million dollars to the Art for Justice fund, whose mission is to end mass incarceration and reform the criminal justice system, an action that she defended. , “is art as a public service”.
Gund founded Studio in a School 45 years ago and it continues to be her most beloved company, she says because it fosters the diversity that shapes our world that begins with children who are encouraged to discover their authentic voices through art.
“There is more art in the schools, but we need it now more than ever,” Gund said during her acceptance of the Woman of Leadership award, established under the name of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, at the Library of Congress, in February 2020.
