We will create a large-scale outdoor installation art piece as a collaborative community project between Broadwater Elementary and the various entities that support our school and community in general.  The goal is to both beautify our school grounds and visibly create a work of art that visually represents our community.

Large-scale, collaborative art pieces have been rewarding in the past, and we would like to offer another such project to our students and families. There are a number of studies that have described the importance of art learning at length, but perhaps the best publication that is both informative and succinct can be found here. There are many reasons for improving art learning in our schools, including increased academic achievement, decreased drop-out rates, and higher levels of engagement that increase students’ likelihood of being successful both in and out of the classroom.

The scope of this project is much greater than the classroom; students will literally ‘see’ our collaborative community. The project is designed to not only give students a sense of belonging and personal investment in our school, but also to involve and incorporate adults. The home to school connection is vital to student success; we want to foster more meaningful family engagement opportunities. It has been found over and over again that “the most accurate predictor of student achievement is the extent to which the family is involved in his or her education.” Through the beautification of our playground, students, parents, and community members will see that they are members of a vast support network as they work together to create a visible metaphor for our ‘collaborative community’. In the classroom, students will extend their learning in art, science, and math to execute their designs and understand our school’s