Giving Compass' Take:

• Nikolai Vitti, Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) Superintendent, aims to expand arts programs for students in Detroit schools by partnering with local art institutions in the city. 

• How can arts education create meaningful purpose in a student's learning growth? 

• Read about why we need to find ways to connect students to the arts. 

When former Boston Public Schools Superintendent Carol Johnson identified arts learning as a key piece of her agenda to transform the city’s schools in 2009, only 67% of K-8 students in Boston Public Schools had art as part of their school day.

Today, 95% of Boston’s K-8 students receive weekly arts instruction – aided by a network of cultural and philanthropic investment that has leveraged a 5-to-1 increase in public funding.

Nikolai Vitti, Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) Superintendent, is vocal about his vision to expand arts education for Detroit students. He cites a desire to fulfill the district’s commitment to the “whole child” approach of its Blueprint 2020 plan by bringing music or arts to every K-8 DPSCD student in the coming school year.

To these ends, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Michigan Opera Theatre, and the Detroit Institute of Arts have already been brought to DPSCD’s table. Many smaller arts partners are also on-board and ready to support the district’s vision. Vitti is to be commended for his work completed in such a short timeframe on this critical gap.

Read the full article on arts in schools by Alissa Novoselick at Detroit Free Press