NHPS Teachers To Explore 'The Creator’s Classroom' With Artists, Arts Educators Led By The GRAMMY Museum

NEW HAVEN, CT — Fine arts teachers at the New Haven Public Schools will learn alongside working artists and arts educators during a day of professional development scheduled for Aug.

26, immediately before the start of the 2025-26 school year. The series of events is called “The Creator’s Classroom – Student SPARK” and is led by the GRAMMY Museum®.

The NHPS Fine Arts Department is partnering with well known arts and community organizations to make available a day of immersive activity in music, visual arts, dance, and theater. Partnering in the day of pedagogy will be representatives from the GRAMMY Museum, members from various Recording Academy® chapters around the country, Creative Arts Workshop, the New Haven Ballet, and the Educational Center for the Arts.

The Grammy Museum is an interactive, educational museum devoted to the history and winners of the Grammy Awards. The Museum has interactive touch-screens, videos, recording booths, and a collection of historical music artifacts including costumes and instruments from the Grammy Awards, handwritten lyrics, records, and audio/video recordings.

Hosted across the Audubon Arts District—including Neighborhood Music School, Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven Ballet, and ECA—the series of workshops will focus on content pedagogy, content literacy, social-emotional learning, and cultural responsiveness. The goal is to ensure that NHPS teachers are empowered to ignite student success through the arts.

"This series is more than professional development," said schools Supervisor of Fine Arts, Holly Maxson. "It is a celebration of our talented educators and community partners coming together to inspire, uplift, and transform the way we teach through the arts."

Teachers will participate in such sessions as Music of the Civil Rights Movement, Hip Hop, Paper Lithography, Latin Dance, and Musical Theater.

Sponsors currently include Orchestra New England, Yale School of Music, The Chiropractic and Wellness Center of New Haven, and The Loop Japanese Grocery & Kitchen by Hichiroku, among others.

About the GRAMMY Museum

The GRAMMY Museum is a nonprofit organization dedicated to celebrating and exploring music from yesterday and today to inspire the music of tomorrow through exhibits, education, grants, preservation initiatives, and public programming. Paying tribute to our collective musical heritage, the Museum values and celebrates the dynamic connection in people’s diverse backgrounds and music’s many genres, telling stories that inspire us, and creative expression that leads change in our industry.

For more information on the GRAMMY Museum, click here.