Our current educational system offers many different models. One of the models that uniquely exists to support arts education is the arts high school. I recently joined an arts high school community, and I live in awe of the complexity, depth, and flexibility that the arts school model provides. This year I attended the Arts School Network conference for the first time. The conference attendees were arts school educators from around the country. It was an eye-opening experience to be among colleagues who understood the school model in which I am immersed daily.

Arts school is a space in which we are free to design, create, modify, and amplify in just the way we see fit to meet the needs of our community. It’s an empowering space, but often an isolated one.

When our young artists become their best selves, we all benefit. Their creative lenses, solutions, beauty, and impact on the world is unmistakable. Finding a community in which to belong is essential, and the earlier it happens in life the greater the impact. The arts high school model provides that community, and it is a design that should be not only cherished and preserved but further developed.

Read the full article by Ahava Silkey-Jones about arts high schools from Americans for the Arts