Houston ISD believes that every student deserves an Arts-Rich Education. 

(Click here for more information about an Arts-Rich Education.)

Therefore, the Fine Arts Department is charged to collect district-wide data, establish shared values, and provide support and fine arts expertise to every teacher and leader, ensuring that our work is guided by well-informed, data-driven decisions.  As an essential component of an HISD education, district and campus leaders will support the Fine Arts as a core academic area and the community must move away from the mindset that the Fine Arts are merely “ancillary,” “extra-curricular,” or “enrichment.”

Guiding Principles

Equity of Access - All Houston ISD students deserve access to a high-quality, arts-rich education that includes all four fine arts disciplines (dance, music, theatre, and visual arts).

Support of the Whole Child – The fine arts are an essential element of an educational approach that supports the growth of the whole child because each fine arts discipline provides tools for teachers to engage their students, activate creative minds, and build connections between the classroom and the world around them.

Success through Collective Impact - We must capitalize on the strength of our community through collective impact to ensure key constituencies work together in a mutually supportive manner, by celebrating autonomy, respecting individual roles, and aligning values and resources.

Mission Driven

The mission of the HISD Board of Education is to equitably educate the whole child so that every student graduates with the tools to reach their full potential.[1]  The State of Texas defines the fine arts as dance, music, theatre, and visual arts and identifies them as essential for nurturing and developing the whole child.[2]  The federal government also includes the fine arts in the definition of a well-rounded education in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).[3]  Aligned with these governing principles from all levels, the HISD Fine Arts Department believes that educating the whole child must include high-quality instruction in all four fine arts disciplines in a manner that removes the boundaries between the fine arts and all other areas of learning.  The HISD Fine Arts Department defines this vision as an Arts-Rich Education.

Providing an Arts-Rich Education to every student in HISD is complex undertaking.  By breaking arts education down into three essential components, examining the role of each key constituency, and outlining an implementation strategy, the complexities of the undertaking are diminished and large problems become a series of smaller more manageable elements.

[1] HISD Board Goals, https://www.houstonisd.org/Page/32489

[2] 19 Texas Administrative Code, Chapter 117, http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/rules/tac/chapter117/index.html.

[3] Every Student Succeeds Act, Section 8002, (52), https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-114s1177enr/pdf/BILLS-114s1177enr.pdf.

Click here for a document for more-detailed information on Arts-Rich Education.