Arts Integration Solutions to Make Arizona Heart of National Movement

Online, November 14, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Education leaders in the Tucson area have launched Arts Integrations Solutions (AiS), a nonprofit providing professional development services to K-12 educators.

Designed to provide the nation's educators with the strategies and best practices they need to leverage the arts to increase student achievement, the mission of AiS is to transform the education system by bringing the classroom practice of arts integration to every child, in every classroom, every day; helping them succeed in math, science, literacy and life.

AiS provides a variety of professional development services, including its Arts Integration Academy (AiA) and Arts Integration Intensive (Aii); as well as custom, on-site coaching and program development for schools.

Working relationships exist with teachers from more than 45 districts in Arizona, Colorado, California, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Mexico and Ohio. On October 14th, AiS will hold a one-day training in Sacramento, Calif., for over 750 educators and administrators from Diocese of Sacramento schools. Arizona educators and administrators will meet regarding arts integration on October 21-22 in Tucson, when AiS holds a free, two-day professional development summit at the Pima Community College Center for the Arts. A limited number of spaces are still available for this event.

"We are excited to publicly announce the availability of our services," said AiS CEO Donn Poll. "Student success in our schools is determined to a great degree by teachers. It is proven that teachers who are trained to use the arts are best equipped to help students succeed in math, science, and literacy."

Initial funding for the program has come from Wells Fargo, Target, JPMorgan Chase, Cox, Arizona Community Foundation, Helios Education Foundation, Community Foundation for Southern Arizona, as well as the Stocker, Southwestern and Emerald Foundations.

AiS is a refocus of the Opening Minds through the Arts (OMA) Foundation, which was founded in 2004, and had previously supported arts integration within Tucson. AiS now has a statewide and national scope as it looks to further the founding mission; to bring arts integration to every child in every classroom, to boost student achievement and to transform the education system.

About Arts Integration Solutions (AiS)
AiS is a Tucson-based nonprofit that provides highly effective teaching practices through an innovative approach to professional development. Not an add-on program, but rather a best practice that integrates the arts, such as dance, music, and acting; to activate and engage existing curriculum. AiS seeks to elevate educators' skill sets, and increase student attention and retention, producing a direct impact on student achievement. Partner schools accomplish sustainable results through AiS best practices for leaders, teachers and students alike, resulting in specific student achievement measures on through whole-school transformation. AiS implementation has been shown to break down additional barriers faced in the classroom, including: language (ELL), poverty, disability, social and cultural issues. For more information, visit www.ArtsIntegration.com. Connect via Twitter @ArtsIntegration and on Facebook, www.facebook.com/ArtsIntegration.