School Programs

Teaching and Learning is an integral part of CAE’s mission to ensure that New York City public school students have quality arts learning as an essential part of their K-12 education. Our innovative approach includes arts learning through parent and child engagement (Parents as Arts Partners), career development (Career Development Program), and a wide variety of customized artist residencies in music, theatre, dance, visual arts and digital media. Each unit of study is tailored to address your school’s interests and goals. Sessions often include field trips and school performances by professional artists. We look forward to collaborating with you to create sustainable, quality arts learning in your school community.

Benefits for Your School and Your Students:

• Customized units of study that focus on skill development, arts integration and live encounters with the arts.
• Arts programming that will help your school fulfill New York State’s arts education requirements.
• Arts learning that helps develop the academic skills needed for successful college and career preparation; and encourages students to attend and thrive in school.
• Afterschool and weekend programs that encourage and guide parents to actively participate in their children’s education and school community.
• Professional Development workshops that help teachers and school leaders incorporate common core learning standards into arts studies.
• Internships for high school students interested in working in New York City’s many arts related careers.
• Consulting sessions that help your school community fund and evaluate quality arts programming.
• Programs delivered by teaching artists who are among the finest in their disciplines and are selected based on their experience, talent and ability to inspire students and school communities.

Customized Residencies: teaching artists partner with classroom teachers to help students learn in and through the arts. Teaching artists trained in lesson plan development and differentiated instruction collaborate with classroom teachers to create long term, dynamic school-based partnerships.

Parents as Arts Partners: engages parents and families in hands-on, interactive arts activities with their children. The program increases parent engagement and involvement in their child’s education, creating shared, high quality arts experiences that align with classroom curriculum.

English Language Learning through the Arts: Teaching artist residencies and performances are specifically developed to improve English language learning and comprehension. Reaches English language learners through diverse art forms, activities, and performances; engaging students in building vocabulary, developing critical and creative thinking skills, identifying cross-disciplinary connections, and supporting socialization.

Career Development Program: prepares students for internships in New York City’s creative industries. Topics may include: an introduction to New York City’s thriving arts industries, research in arts careers, career planning, résumé and cover letter writing, job interviewing skills, workplace etiquette, conflict resolution and other workplace skills.

Professional Development: workshops, seminars and peer exchange opportunities for principals, assistant principals, arts liaisons, classroom teachers, and teaching artists. CAE’s Principals Institute helps school leaders create a successful framework to begin to transform their schools into arts-powered centers of learning. CAE provides teachers with tools and skills to successfully integrate and incorporate diverse arts forms into their classrooms, and to partner effectively with teaching artists.

• Creativity
• Communication
• Collaboration
• Independent learning
• Critical thinking
• Academic rigor

• Instruction: demonstration and individual coaching
• Inquiry: brainstorming, hypothesizing, experimenting
• Activity: experiential learning
• Revision: opportunities for refining work
• Reflection: review, critique, reflection
• Research: extending learning beyond the session

Call our Director of Teaching and Learning, Dr. Jerry James at 212-971-3300 or email to discuss program details including costs, length, and content.

We look forward to working with you!

School Arts Support Initiative This innovative school-based program was created for underserved New York City public middle schools with little or no arts education. The goal is to help develop the capacity needed to transform these schools into arts rich communities.

Special Education Research shows that students with autism and other challenges learn better through the arts. CAE has worked with PS 37 on Staten Island and other schools to provide comprehensive arts programming. In partnership with these schools we have created comprehensive arts residencies to continue to explore how the arts positively affect student learning.

The Cultural After School Adventures programs provide a wide array of high-quality cultural experiences to youth enrolled in these afterschool activities

CAE is the designated New York representative for The Leonore Annenberg School Fund for Children, which helps elementary schools implement their own quality arts education programs.