Baggett Elementary receives Creative School Arts Integration School of Excellence Award

     Baggett Elementary School is one of five schools recognized by the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) as a recipient of the Creative School Arts Integration School of Excellence Award.

     “This recognition reflects the incredible work of our teachers and staff, who have intentionally integrated the arts into daily instruction to create engaging and rigorous learning experiences for all students,” says Principal Kevin Payne.

     The award honors schools where arts integration is embedded across subjects and accessible to all students. All K-12 public schools in Georgia were eligible to apply for the award. The recognized schools demonstrate strong rigor and relevance in arts-integrated instruction, sustained professional learning for teachers, effective program organization, and meaningful community involvement in the arts.

     Arts integration allows students to synthesize content and create new ideas, connections, and solutions. The Creative School Arts Integration School of Excellence Award promotes arts integration as a way to increase engagement and learning in and outside of the arts classroom, recognizing schools that treat the arts as essential instructional tools rather than enrichment activities.

     “We are especially proud that this award acknowledges our commitment to ensuring every student has access to high-quality arts experiences as part of a well-rounded education,” Payne adds.

     At Baggett Elementary, arts integration is embedded across grade levels through interdisciplinary, project-based instruction developed collaboratively by classroom teachers and arts specialists. Students use dance, theatre, music, visual arts, and media arts to demonstrate learning in core subjects, with all students rotating through multiple fine arts disciplines. Learning is extended through professional teaching artist residencies and showcased through performances, exhibitions, and schoolwide events.

     The Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) has been focused on expansion of fine arts instruction throughout the last decade. In 2015, Superintendent Woods created the agency’s first state-level fine arts role – now a team of three supporting multiple fine arts disciplines. This team has expanded virtual fine arts access, developed curriculum resources for arts courses, and launched a statewide dashboard to track fine arts access. To represent arts stakeholders from across the state, they also convened a District Arts Coordinators Council and established a Fine Arts Advisory Committee. GaDOE also introduced a Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) school certification focused on arts integration with STEM instruction, created new fine arts pathways and a Fine Arts Diploma Seal, and invested more than $2 million in grants to help school districts launch, build, and sustain fine arts programs.