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City West Journal

 
Chicago Public Schools launches new initiative for enhanced arts education
Pedro Martinez Chief Executive Officer | Chicago Public Schools

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has unveiled a new initiative aimed at enhancing both access to and the quality of arts education across the district. The CPS Arts Education Plan 2.0: Cultivating Creativity builds on efforts initiated in 2012, setting ambitious goals for excellence in arts programming.

Pedro Martinez, CEO of CPS, emphasized the district's commitment to providing robust arts education for every child in Chicago. "This latest arts education plan shows how much we can achieve when we come together to invest in our students," he stated.

The updated plan outlines significant expansions in arts access over the past decade and introduces an innovative model to measure instructional quality across all CPS schools. César Torruella, Executive Director of Arts Education at CPS, noted that this effort positions the district as a national leader in ensuring high-quality and accessible arts education.

The plan focuses on two main goals: equitable access to sequential arts instruction by certified educators and defining high-quality instruction through rigorous curricula and assessments. Ingenuity Inc., a key partner in developing this strategy, released its annual State of the Arts report last month. The report provided comprehensive data from 99 percent of CPS schools, highlighting progress made since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nicole Upton, Executive Director of Ingenuity, described the plan as a bold step forward not only in expanding access but also in defining what quality looks like for every student. She stressed that fulfilling these recommendations will require collective effort from all stakeholders involved.

For more information about CPS' Arts Education Department and their new plan, interested parties are encouraged to visit their website.