School Partnerships

Our School Partnership Program sends instructors to teach woodworking and visual arts in schools throughout Greater Boston, both after school and during the school day. In the 2011–12 school year, we will teach over 1,100 children in Boston Public Schools and and related programs, in Kindergarten through 8th grade.

Student Art Exhibition

Students in our Roslindale Arts Initiative exhibited their work at Roslindale Open Studios November 5 & 6, 2011. Find out more. Expect another excellent exhibition in Spring 2012.

Flexible, Excellent, Affordable

We are known for our ability to respond to each school's needs, the excellence of our teachers and our affordability. Our teachers work with school staff to create courses that complement daytime curriculum. We can merge art, woodworking, sewing and other crafts with hidden math, literacy, social studies, science, community service and other interests. Classes can be as short as one session or as long as a year. We are happy to negotiate a budget that works for each school.

art workshop class for schoolchildren in Boston

Examples

Our skill-building art class helped students in grades 6–8 prepare to apply to high schools that focus on the arts. (Murphy School)
Our Woodworking curriculum supported state math standards for grades 3–5. (Agassiz School)
Sixth graders made comic strips featuring their own superheroes. (Boston Teachers' Union School)
Children in grades K-2 created illustrated books “All About Me” and “About My Neighborhood.” (Winthrop School)
Students created new clothes by tying and sewing recycled fabric. (Fifield School)
Kindergarteners designed, built and painted a community from wood. (Philbrick School)
Children built birdhouses, then went to Boston Nature Center for a unit on birds. A second group built planters, then filled them and learned about seeds at Allandale Farm. (Science Club for Girls)
Fourth graders built miniature colonial houses and corn-husk dolls, then assembled a village and enacted scenes from colonial life. (Young Achievers School)
Our Dyeing and Weaving teachers enriched a 3rd grade unit on the Navajo. (Young Achievers School)
Middle school students helped design and build benches as part of a Community Links Initiative, with elementary school students painting tiles to decorate them. (Irving, Bates and Sumner Schools)

Teachers

Classroom Aides

Our Aides add enormous value to our program. They often use their experience with us to become teachers; some draw upon teaching experience they have gained over a lifetime. This year’s aides include:

Janelle Carson, Ferron Dooley-Fairchild, Samantha Drake, Teo Drake, Itziar Garcia, Ethan Gatson, Abby Hutt, Matt Jeffs, Cara Lovell, Clove Medeiros, Thatagata Mukherjee, Lindsey Peterson, Marina Pithis, Erin Poindexter, Kara Rainey, Caitlin Sundby, Eric Van Dreason, Lindsay Wagner, Garett Yahn

Staff

Nicole Murray, Director
Diane Ivey, Special Projects Coordinator

Current School Partners

Boston Public Schools

Boston Teachers Union School
Conley Elementary School
Henderson Elementary School
Holmes Elementary School
Hurley K-8 School
Irving Middle School
Lee Elementary School
Mozart Elementary School
Murphy K-8 School
Neighborhood House Charter School
Philbrick Elementary School
Sumner Elementary School
UP Academy Charter School
Winthrop Elementary School
Young Achievers K-8 School

Pre-Schools, Independent Schools & Special Programs

Big Sister Association
Boys & Girls Club at Sumner Elementary School, "In Sight" Community Art Program
COMPASS School
Sociedad Latina

Past Partners

Agassiz Elementary School (closed)
Fifield Elementary School (closed)
Hernandez K-8 School
Manning Elementary School
Tobin K-8 School
Trotter Elementary School

and:

British School
Kids-a-Lot Country Day School Summer Camp
Russell J. Call Pre-School at Northeastern University
Science Club for Girls – see their birdhouse project photos and blog
Solomon Schechter Day School