DeKalb School Named 1 Of 3 Creative Schools Award Winners In GA

DEKALB COUNTY, GA — Henderson Mill Elementary School of the DeKalb County School District is one of three Georgia schools recognized Monday by the state for integrating the arts into their programs.

The Georgia Department of Education's new Creative School Arts Integration award tapped the DeKalb County school — along with North Metro Academy in Gwinnett County and the School for Arts Infused Instruction (SAIL) near Augusta — as "Schools of Excellence."

All K-12 public schools in Georgia were invited to apply for the award.

"We believe the arts are an essential part of a well-rounded education, that they are valuable on their own and that they enhance learning in other subject areas," Georgia School Superintendent Richard Woods said in a statement released Monday. "This award recognizes schools who are going above and beyond to integrate the arts into their students' day-to-day learning experience."

As Henderson Mill was the state Department of Education's first STEAM-certified school, the school "prioritizes the full daily integration of the fine arts into all content areas," the department said in a news release. STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.

Through a partnership with the Alliance Theatre Arts Education Institute, teaching artists visit every class at HMES multiple times each year and equip teachers with theatrical concepts to use in the classroom, such as scriptwriting, creative movement, music, tableau and costuming, the release said.

And at a school where 47 percent of students speak a second language at home and 29 percent receive English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) instruction, the fine arts have brought the school community together, HMES staff members said in their application.

“By integrating the [project-based learning] and the arts into our daily work, we have removed the language-learning barrier for a significant part of our school population, giving everyone a universal language that can be used in many ways to learn and demonstrate learning,” school staff wrote in their application. “For example, second graders at HMES might be found creating a mixed media map while learning about topography; kindergarteners create a song about community helpers; first-graders act out the water cycle through the use of tableau.”