Interchange is an arts education collaborative between the St. Louis Public Schools and some 30 area arts and cultural organizations. Through Interchange, 30+ area arts and cultural organizations are supporting the work of St. Louis Public Schools teachers to engage students and improve outcomes.
St. Louis is one of nine sites across the country funded by The Ford Foundation through its Integrating the Arts and Education Reform Initiative, which supports innovative arts integration pilots in urban public school systems.
History
The concept of Interchange emerged in 2003 when the Ford Foundation asked if St. Louis' Center of Creative Arts (COCA) was interested in applying for a grant to use arts integration as a mechanism for academic improvement. COCA's application for Ford funding was successful, resulting in a $125,000 planning grant that began in July 2004. With this funding, and given the vast cultural resources available in St. Louis, COCA and local philanthropist Larry Cohn reached out to dozens of arts and cultural organizations to include them in the planning process.
Today, Interchange brings together 30+ area arts and cultural organizations as resources to teachers in the St. Louis Public Schools who are piloting arts integration strategies in their classrooms. In addition to support from the Ford Foundation, Interchange is supported by the Missouri Arts Council, Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, St. Louis Regional Arts Council and individual donors.
What does Interchange bring to the St. Louis Public Schools?
Arts integration is a model that is working to improve student outcomes in public schools.
In St. Louis, we can expect improved student performance. For example, in Dallas, fourth grade students benefiting from a curriculum involving programming with area arts and cultural partners demonstrated improved performance on literacy measures of vocabulary, organization, personal voice and overall writing compared to their peers.
We can expect improved critical thinking skills. Success in todayšs world requires innovative thinkers people with creative problem solving skills beyond the "basics" of reading and math. Arts integration enables students to comprehend the basics while building their capacity for creativity and innovation.
We expect to see improved outcomes related to overall school culture and attendance. Students excited about learning are excited about coming to school.
Wešre excited about what we're seeing in the classrooms where arts integration is being piloted and we look forward to more success stories in the future.
Our Vision
A stronger St. Louis community enriched by students engaged in education strengthened by the presence
of arts and cultural institutions. |
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Our Mission
Through a communitywide systemic collaboration of arts and cultural institutions, Interchange will
improve the academic achievement of St. Louis Public School students by providing them with an expanded
arts integrated curriculum. |
