It’s
hard to believe that Eleven Months have already gone by since I took over the
reins of Hartford Performs. Before my
one year anniversary rolls around I wanted to share some of the amazing
accomplishments that the Hartford Performs team knocked off of our to-do
list. The gifts and accolades seemed to
come at us in waves during the last two months but that was only after a lot of
hard work and extra hours were put in.
The tidal wave of good news
began in November when we were notified that The Prudential Foundation approved a grant of $100,000 to support the
continued growth of Hartford Performs and our Arts Integration Program. The grant will allow Hartford Performs to
expand programs and services to ensure every Hartford Public School student has
access to quality arts education.
In early December we were given the opportunity to do
a workshop for the Hartford Board of Education to bring them up to date on our
progress from the first 3 years of program implementation. We were thrilled to be able to report gains on
Connecticut Master Test (CMT) scores as confirmed by an independent analysis
completed in December of 2013 by Public Consulting Group (PCG). The PCG report on Impact from 2010 – 2013
went on to say that Students who have been in Hartford Performs schools
for two and three years, performed better in reading, as a group, compared with
their peers who have not. Students
in schools that participated in Hartford Performs for three years
experienced the most improvement on CMT Reading scores, followed by students in
schools that have participated for two years.
Based on this data and overwhelmingly positive
response on surveys from students, teachers and principals we asked the Board
of Education to renew our contract and increase their level of support. On
December 19th, at the Hartford Board of Education’s regular meeting our
contract extension and funding increase was approved with no
opposition.
With
only a few days remaining before the year's end we received more good news. In a press release sent to us by the John F.
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. we learned that Hartford
Performs and Hartford Public Schools were one of 11 Partnership teams from
across the nation selected for the Kennedy Center’s Partners in Education
Program. Our team is very excited about this selection and for the
opportunity to go to Washington to share our best practices and learn from the
other National standouts.
And last but not least, in a letter dated December 30th,
2013, we learned that Hartford Performs’
year-long quest to become an independent 501(c)3 Non-profit Organization was
APPROVED by the Internal Revenue Service.
Good, better, best, never
let it rest. Building on this wave of
momentum we don’t planning on resting and look forward to expanding our
partnerships, adding additional programs, and to reaching more and more
students as we continue to inspire students’ success through the arts.
So to all you bloggers out there feel free to share any and all of this
news. Hope you all have a successful and
inspired year filled with your own good, better and best news to share.
