Portfolio Showcase: Walt Disney Magnet School (K-8)
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Overview
With the support of Chicago Arts Partners in Education (CAPE), Walt Disney Magnet School was invited to be part of an inquiry based action research project, the Learning Laboratory School Network (LLSN) of the Music-in-Education National Consortium (MIENC). CAPE has worked with Disney Magnet School since 1999, when it became part of the network of schools working with teaching artists to integrate the arts across the curriculum.
The Disney Magnet School is part of the Fine and Performing Arts Magnet Cluster Program, a school improvement initiative led by the Chicago Public Schools’ Office of Academic Enhancement. In particular, the Fine and Performing Arts Magnet Cluster Program seeks to improve the quality of and access to arts education in 58 arts-focused schools across the city. Schools in this network work towards overall school improvement by systematically addressing eight areas of school operation: leadership, curriculum integration, professional development, instructional effectiveness, inter-and intra-school collaboration, parental involvement, community partnerships, and opportunities for accelerated student learning. In addition to an arts focus, Disney has also incorporated a focus on technology; there are over 13 technology labs in the school. One is a state of the art Digital Music Laboratory, funded in part by the Disney family, and the other is the Fast ForWord lab, which is used to support students who are struggling with literacy skills. The connection between these two programs became the basis for this investigation.