SmartARTS

A partnership between Greenville County Schools and the Metropolitan Arts Council. Connecting students to deeper learning and self-awareness through integrating the arts with all areas of education.

SmartARTS provides training and support for teachers and artists in the use of successful arts integration methods. The partnership is built on the collaboration between teacher and artist and is focused on becoming a model and resource for this innovative work that has brought academic and behavioral success for may underserved students. To date, SmartARTS has focused on Title I schools, however, plans are underway to extend training to non-Title I schools.

SmartARTS focuses on standards-based arts integration and are designed to meet the objectives of the No Child Left Behind Act and the school district’s Arts Education Plan.

To date, SmartARTS has overseen three U.S. Department of Education grants, totaling $2.1 million. These grants have provided training for over 200 Title I teachers and over 140 local artists as well as funded over 300 arts-integrated units at Tanglewood Middle School, Grove Elementary and other participating Title I schools. For the 2006-2007 school year, there were eight participating schools.

"Arts integration is the collaboration between the arts and other content areas resulting in a richer, more complete whole that fosters deep, connected, personal learning in both areas simultaneously." - Greenville County Schools’ definition