Thursday, July 3, 2014

'Year in Review'

From the desk of the Executive Director, Robert Warren

As the saying goes, a lot can happen in one year, and such a saying serves as an understatement when Hartford Performs looked back at our 2013-2014 year. While enjoying our new home in the City Arts on Pearl building in downtown Hartford, Hartford Performs served over 12,000 students through our Arts Integration programs. We received new funding, were selected to participate in the Partners in Education program of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and started a high school arts workgroup.

Program Performance

Hartford Performs’ crew of more than 100 Arts providers were able to integrate the arts into 26 schools this year.  Not only are kids taking to these arts infused academic programs and performances with increased interest and excitement, but their teachers are also enthusiastic about the programs and are seeing improvement in their students’ test scores. Hartford Performs is recognized as an influential and inspirational program for Hartford Public School students.
Hartford Performs’ impact on HPS students was a key component of our presentation to the Hartford Board of Education in December which resulted in a unanimous vote to renew our contract with the district for another three years. Additionally, Hartford Performs received 501(c)3 status from the IRS officially recognizing us as a tax exempt, nonprofit organization.
The Kennedy Center’s Partners in Education program will allow us to strengthen our Professional Development for teachers and arts providers. This year we will bring Kennedy Center teaching artists to Hartford to provide deepened arts integration workshops for teachers in our participating schools.  While here, they will also work with some of our own arts providers to help them create deepened arts integration workshops of their own which will be available to Hartford Performs schools and other districts in future years.
As we continue to grow, we acknowledge that grades PK-8 are not the only grades that can benefit from our programs. Therefore we started a high school arts workgroup to see what arts integration can look like at the high school level.

Thanking our New Funders
  • BeFoundation
  •   Knox Foundation
  • The Fund for Greater Hartford
  •  The Ritter Family Fund

The BeFoundation is invested in the educational outcomes of disadvantaged students and their grant is allowing us to develop a brand new database for our arts programs in partnership with the Connecticut Center of Advanced Technology (CCAT).  The Knox Foundation helps nonprofits that are working to address Hartford’s most pressing needs in the community and their funds will supplement the training required for the new system. The Fund for Greater Hartford aligns with two of our values of arts and education and is providing much needed operational support.  The Ritter Family Fund supported a teaching artist pilot program at Noah Webster School. We were thoroughly pleased to receive this new local support from these generous, community-minded organizations.
We truly appreciate when funders see the effect we are having and want to help our efforts. None of what we do would be possible without the ongoing support we receive from Hartford Public Schools, Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, the Prudential Foundation and Travelers. Our efforts to improve the education of students could not be made possible without you.

To Another Great Year

This year there was a lot to be thankful for and we are happy to see the positive results. Next year we look forward to another strong year with continued growth by adding two more schools, enhancing professional development with the Kennedy Center’s program model, and beginning to pilot programs at the high school level. If you enjoyed reading our year in review, please share it on Facebook or Twitter! Don’t forget to like Hartford Performs on Facebook; https://www.facebook.com/HartfordPerforms?ref_type=bookmark.