Edwin S. Richards Arts Based Curriculum School
Earns Arts Schools Network Exemplary School Designation
North Charleston, SC (May 30, 2018) – The Arts Schools Network Board of Directors has designated Edwin S. Richards Arts Based Curriculum School in Mission, British Columbia, Canada an Exemplary School in recognition of its commitment to excellence. The five-year designation is awarded for 2018-2023.
Arts Schools Network (ASN), the nation’s largest professional membership organization of specialized arts schools, awards Exemplary School designations to members that follow A Guide to Assessing Your Arts School in strategically evaluating their school’s purpose, operations, and educational programs. The Guide is a collaborative effort by ASN and the Accrediting Commission for Community and Pre-collegiate Arts Schools (ACCPAS). ASN will honor the school at the ASN 2018 Annual Conference, October 23-26, 2018 in Orange County, California.
Edwin S. Richards Arts Based Curriculum School is a vibrant school where high expectations are set for academic excellence, growth in the fine arts, and citizenship. The school has a strong focus on literacy, and promotes a caring and accepting culture that fosters inclusion and embraces differences. Its vision is to transport students to a place where creativity, collaboration, leadership and thinking skills go hand in hand to provide active, positive and effective learning experiences.
Classroom teachers, while not having fine arts degrees, actively pursue innovative ways in which students can demonstrate their understanding with and through the arts. Professional discussions, staff collaboration and partnerships with artists in residence and parents, have provided the keys necessary to unlocking the door for the school’s continuing arts journey. The school celebrates with its community via an annual Spring Celebration of Learning Through the Arts. Artistic partnerships at local and global levels demonstrate the school's commitment to creativity, collaboration and community.
Melissa Brookes, Managing Director for ASN, said, “We offer guidance, inspiration and incentives to arts school leaders who strive for excellence in their schools. When they demonstrate outstanding efforts toward this goal, as they do by following A Guide to Assessing Your Arts School, we recognize and reward their achievements with this designation.”
Dedicated to excellence and leadership in arts education, Arts Schools Network, a non-profit association founded in 1981, provides arts school leaders, innovative partners and members of arts education institutions with quality resources, support and networking opportunities.
Visit www.artsschoolsnetwork.org to learn more.