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Board approves arts partnerships and a multi-year arts-integration pilot at two elementary schools
Summary
The Rio Rancho Public Schools board approved memoranda of understanding with the Santa Fe Opera and the National Dance Institute and voted to launch a four-year arts-integration pilot at Sandia Vista and Enchanted Hills Elementary with year-one professional development funding.
The Rio Rancho Public Schools board voted Oct. 14 to approve two memoranda of understanding that extend arts programming in district schools and to begin a multi-year arts-integration pilot at two elementary schools.
Kurt Schmidt, the district’s executive director of fine arts, clarified that the Santa Fe Opera MOU covers the ALTO (active learning through opera) program — which brings teaching artists into middle schools and a rotating set of elementary schools for student-led opera projects — and recommended the board approve continuation of that partnership. The motion to approve the Santa Fe Opera MOU was seconded and recorded as carried during roll call.
The board also approved a memorandum with the National Dance Institute of New Mexico, which runs movement- and SEL-focused residencies at four elementary schools and will provide a three-hour workshop for up to 40 teachers on incorporating movement into the classroom; that MOU passed by roll-call vote (motion carries 4-0 per the transcript).
Separately, the board approved a four-year arts-integration plan to implement arts-integration programming at Sandia Vista and Enchanted Hills Elementary. The plan’s year 0 focuses on community and stakeholder education; year 1 funds professional development and implements an Acting Right behavior program; year 2 introduces a Reading Art program that teaches content through art; and year 3 increases public performances and displays. The superintendent recommended approval; the motion passed 4-0.
Board members emphasized that the district will use lessons from a Colorado integrated-arts model (Belmar School of Integrated Arts) and continue to collect local evidence, such as attendance and referral-rate data, as the pilot proceeds. Schmidt said he is seeking harder outcome data from the Colorado school to help the district evaluate academic impacts.
The approvals include authorization to proceed with year-one professional development and to continue the existing partnerships with the Santa Fe Opera and NDI in the identified schools. No budgetary amounts for the pilot were specified in the meeting minutes beyond authorizing the year-one commitment.
