Over the past five years, ArtsConnection has been awarded three grants totaling nearly $3 million from the US Department of Education's Arts in Education Model Development & Dissemination Program. These grants have allowed us to look at the nature of our partnerships with schools, to explore the cognitive, social and personal development that children derive from theater and dance instruction, and to begin to explore the power of the arts to help English Language Learners develop communication skills through our DELLTA (Developing English Language Learners Through the Arts) Programs with elementary and middle school students. Equally significant is the generous support of the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, the NY State Council on the Arts and the support of foundations, corporations and individuals whose contributions each year ensure that ArtsConnection is able to continue to provide programming to tens of thousands of New York City public school students in over 120 public schools annually. We strongly believe that this kind of support brings with it a responsibility to engage in inquiry and to share what we learn with the broader arts and education field. That belief was at the core of our National Symposium in 2005 and will drive the sharing at our next Symposium in 2009. This website is another way we share what we do. I hope that you find it informative and that you will share your thoughts about it with us.
		At a meeting during the last school year, the Principal of one of our partnership schools volunteered that what she liked about working with ArtsConnection was that we are "...good listeners." What a wonderful way to describe our organization. Listening is one of the most important qualities we try to instill in everyone working for us: administrators, program staff and teaching artists. For us, the work is an ongoing conversation between ArtsConnection and the schools, and our work is only as good as our ability to hear what a teacher or principal is saying and to engage in a meaningful discussion that defines the kind and quality of every residency in every one of the 120+ schools we work with every year. Through mandatory planning and reflection meetings that are part of every residency, that conversation is built into the fabric of our work. By visiting this web site, you have become part of that conversation. I hope you find the information you are seeking and that you will use the tools on the site to make comments, ask questions and become a part of our ongoing inquiry into teaching and learning in arts in education partnerships.