McKinley Middle Academic Magnet School of Visual and Performing Arts has been selected as an Exemplary School by the Arts Schools Network for 2022-2027. McKinley Middle will host a special event to celebrate the honor at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, May 19, at the school, 1550 Eddie Robinson Sr. Drive.
A high-performing dedicated academic magnet, McKinley is one of only nine schools in the country to receive the five-year designation.
The Houston-based Arts Schools Network awards the designation to member schools that meet the organization’s principles of exemplary practice in strategically evaluating its purpose, operations and educational programs. The nonprofit Arts Schools Network was founded in 1981 and is the nation’s largest professional membership organization of specialized arts schools.
“We offer guidance, inspiration and incentives to arts school leaders who strive for excellence in their schools. When they demonstrate outstanding efforts toward this goal, as they do by following ‘A Guide to Assessing Your Arts School,’ we recognize and reward their achievements with this designation,” said Dr. R. Scott Allen, the managing director for Arts School Network.
McKinley Middle has a mission to provide a quality fine arts education, teaching the whole child. The school firmly believes academics and arts need not be separate but complement one another. Integrating fine arts in all classrooms has not been an easy task for the school but one it has wholeheartedly adopted as part of the mission. McKinley Middle has also been recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School and has received the titles of Magnet School of Excellence and Magnet School of Distinction from Magnet Schools of America.
The only Louisiana school to receive the Arts in Schools Network designation is New Orleans Center for Creative Arts School (2018-2023). McKinley Middle will be recognized at the Arts Schools Network’s annual conference in October in Las Vegas. Visit www.artsschoolsnetwork.org to learn more about Arts Schools Network.
