Theatres Launch New Initiative to Address Equitable Engagement in Inclusion Classrooms 

This week, The New Victory Theater, ArtsConnection and Community-Word Project launch GIVE, an invaluable arts education resource that will serve the more than 12,500 students with disabilities enrolled in New York City public schools.

Thanks to a $600,000, two-year grant from the New York Community Trust, GIVE or "Growing Inclusivity for Vibrant Engagement: A Teaching Artist Planning Guide for Best Arts Engagement Practices in Inclusion Classrooms" will enable all three arts nonprofits, who share a commitment to engage every child in the classroom through the arts, an opportunity to create systemic improvements to arts education for inclusion classrooms containing a mixed student body of those with and without disabilities.

As students with unique learning needs are being integrated into general education classrooms in New York City public schools, arts educators are challenged with how to ensure that all students are able to fully engage with arts curricula. GIVE will result in a toolbox of flexible resources that will help Teaching Artists of all arts disciplines to effectively plan, implement and reflect on arts learning in integrated classes, and encourage students with disabilities to demonstrate their learning.