"DreamYard is an example of an organization that believes in the positive power of the arts and its effect on students. They are a capable, organized, committed group of artists and administrators who are natural collaborators bringing the arts to life and enriching the lives of students at PS/MS 306."
- Fred Dolan, Principal of PS/MS 306
About DreamYard
Successes
Bronx Arts Learning Community
DreamYard is working with 15 K-12th grade public schools to create the Bronx Arts Learning Community, an ambitious plan to offer 100% of each school’s students comprehensive, sequential arts learning programs. Each school will work closely with DreamYard artists and program administrators to design a schoolwide plan comprised of a diverse web of programs. DreamYard is also partnering with Metis Associates, national educational research organization, to carry out a rigorous set of quantitative and qualitative research activities designed to evaluate the impact learning partnerships on school culture, teacher practice and student success.
DreamYard Preparatory School
2006 marks the official launch of the DreamYard Preparatory School, a
6th-12th grade New Visions small school in Region 1 that will represent a
decade long culmination of DreamYard's best practices and
core beliefs. The mission of DreamYard Prep will be to cultivate
scholarship, artistry and character within its students to develop
successful individuals and effective participants in the wider social and
professional world. According to Region 1 Superintendent Irma Zardoya,
"DreamYard Prep will be an exciting addition to the community of schools in
Region 1... DreamYard Prep will be an excellent
institution of public education."
Nationally broadcast A&E program "Breakfast with the Arts" produced a special profile of DreamYard and the ACTION Project and its first year participants in April 2005. Jason Duchin, Co-Executive Director, and Tanya Gallo, ACTION Program Director, discussed DreamYard and the ACTION Project's mission and the impact its arts education programs are having on Bronx public schools and local communities. Four ACTION participants discussed their involvement in the ACTION project and how the arts have impacted their lives.
DreamYard maintains a healthy, growing roster of Foundation, Corporate, Government, and Individual support for 2005-2006, including:
- $1,000,000 three year grant from the Annenberg Foundation, to support the Bronx Educational Pathway and the DreamYard Preparatory School;
- Over $700,000 of Region 1, NYC Department of Education Contracts;
- $750,000 US Department of Education grant to support the North Bronx Poetry Slam's POETRY Express Project;
- $250,000 five year grant from the New York State Council for the Arts;
- Three grants totalling $75,000 from the Center for Arts Education;
- $75,000 three year grant from the Luce Charitable Trust; and
- $135,000 from the City of New York's Department of Youth and Community Development to support the ACTION Project through 2008.
According to results from DreamYard's Bank Street College Evaluation Report: "DreamYard has become serious classroom business. For students, DreamYard activities are School. They may be a new way to 'do' school, but they are clearly a—sometimes indistinguishable—part of their classroom curriculum. Students have gained both social and academic skills from their arts experiences. Most outstanding are significant improvement in writing and reading; the opportunity to work in cooperative groups and over come shyness. Too, students are learning the value of reflecting on their work as part of the artistic and academic process. They have been invited to assess what they've learned, how they learn and what skills they might apply to other classes and other projects."
Additional evaluations with Bank Street College of Education and Metis & Associates have found that through DreamYard, young people develop a host of essential literacy skills. In a comparative study with students who were and were not in DreamYard classes (same school, same age, same baseline reading scores), students in DreamYard classes, "not only showed greater stamina, they also improved in writing craft. Such things as elaboration, personal connections, stronger organization were evident."
DreamYard and its After School Arts Company were recognized by the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities as one of the top 50 arts programs for young people in the country through a Coming Up Taller semifinalist Award in 2003.
DreamYard's approach gained national recognition through the President's Initiative on Race, which identified DreamYard programs as a model and one of the "Promising Practices for Racial Reconciliation."