Arts Integrated Elementary School
The Robert Williams School of Arts & Sciences
A Kindergarten through 6th grade state approved elementary school
What is an Arts Integrated Elementary School?
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The arts are as important as academics, and they should be treated that way in school curriculum. This is what we believe and practice at Gabriel’s Art Kids - GAK School. While the positive impact of the arts on academic achievement is worthwhile in itself, it's also the tip of the iceberg when looking at the whole child. Learning art goes beyond creating more successful students. We believe that it creates more successful human beings.
Our students use the arts — dance, music, visual art, and theatre — as a way to learn core academic subjects. This fusion of art with academics sparks the imagination and challenges the intellect, preparing students for vibrant, successful lives in secondary school and beyond. |
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Why arts integration?
Learning through the arts enlivens instruction, increases student involvement, and deepens both memory and meaning. The arts are infused throughout curricular areas to engage the whole child and provide for various methods of expression.
Researchers found that when students received arts-integrated lessons compared to more traditional teaching practices, they improved their ability to assess their learning, and reported that the arts integrated instruction created greater intrinsic motivation, encouraged learning for understanding, turned what students perceived to be barriers into opportunities to be solved, and motivated students to continue learning.
Learning through the arts enlivens instruction, increases student involvement, and deepens both memory and meaning. The arts are infused throughout curricular areas to engage the whole child and provide for various methods of expression.
Researchers found that when students received arts-integrated lessons compared to more traditional teaching practices, they improved their ability to assess their learning, and reported that the arts integrated instruction created greater intrinsic motivation, encouraged learning for understanding, turned what students perceived to be barriers into opportunities to be solved, and motivated students to continue learning.
"Learning through mistakes for arts students—for all students—learning comes from taking risks, making mistakes, and applying feedback."
It’s long been known that drawing something helps a person remember it. A new study, at the University of Waterloo, they conducted experiments to better understand how activities such as writing, looking at pictures, listening to lectures, drawing, and visualizing images affect a student’s ability to remember information. This study shows that drawing is superior to activities such as reading or writing because it forces the person to process information in multiple ways: visually, kinesthetically, and semantically. Across a series of experiments, researchers found drawing information to be a powerful way to boost memory, increasing recall by nearly double.
1. Growth Mindset
Through the arts, students develop skills like resilience, grit, and a growth mindset to help them master their craft, do well academically, and succeed in life after high school.
2. Self-Confidence
“Initiatives to promote arts engagement in children may provide a practical and efficient way to improve children’s self-esteem,” report Hei Wan Mak and Daisy Fancourt of University College London. Importantly, they found that kids didn’t have to be good at their chosen creative activity for these positive effects to blossom.
3. Improved Cognition
Research connects learning music to improved "verbal memory, second language pronunciation accuracy, reading ability, and executive functions" in youth (Frontiers in Neuroscience).
By immersing students in arts education, you draw them into an incredibly complex and multifaceted endeavor that combines many subject matters (like mathematics, history, language, and science) while being uniquely tied to culture.
4. Communication
One can make an argument that communication may be the single most important aspect of existence. Our world is built through communication. Students learn a multitude of communication skills by studying the arts.
5. Deepening Cultural and Self-Understanding
While many find the value of arts education to be the ways in which it impacts student learning, a culture without art isn’t possible. Art is at the very core of our identity as humans. It is the greatest gift we can give students -- and humanity -- is an understanding, appreciation, and ability to create art.
1. Growth Mindset
Through the arts, students develop skills like resilience, grit, and a growth mindset to help them master their craft, do well academically, and succeed in life after high school.
2. Self-Confidence
“Initiatives to promote arts engagement in children may provide a practical and efficient way to improve children’s self-esteem,” report Hei Wan Mak and Daisy Fancourt of University College London. Importantly, they found that kids didn’t have to be good at their chosen creative activity for these positive effects to blossom.
3. Improved Cognition
Research connects learning music to improved "verbal memory, second language pronunciation accuracy, reading ability, and executive functions" in youth (Frontiers in Neuroscience).
By immersing students in arts education, you draw them into an incredibly complex and multifaceted endeavor that combines many subject matters (like mathematics, history, language, and science) while being uniquely tied to culture.
4. Communication
One can make an argument that communication may be the single most important aspect of existence. Our world is built through communication. Students learn a multitude of communication skills by studying the arts.
5. Deepening Cultural and Self-Understanding
While many find the value of arts education to be the ways in which it impacts student learning, a culture without art isn’t possible. Art is at the very core of our identity as humans. It is the greatest gift we can give students -- and humanity -- is an understanding, appreciation, and ability to create art.
See what some parents have to say about our program:
"I am continually impressed with the high caliber and super FUN art education my daughter receives at GAK. All the projects foster critical thinking and creative problem solving and the curriculum aligns with the National Core Arts Standards. As a teacher myself--I appreciate the focus on building skills of collaboration, play and creativity instead of "making a product". As a mom--I appreciate the high standard of personalized care that I see from ALL the staff. Bellingham is so fortunate to have GAK!"
Susan Haines
Integrated Arts Professor and Dance Specialist,
Woodring College of Education,
Western Washington University
Susan Haines
Integrated Arts Professor and Dance Specialist,
Woodring College of Education,
Western Washington University
