The ACES Program (Arts Connections Enhance Success) for Students at Vaughn Road Elementary School in Montgomery represents a cooperative effort between the Alabama Institute for Education in the Arts (AIEA) and the Montgomery Public School System. Every student at Vaughn Road Elementary, including those with special needs, receives weekly, 30-minute, data driven, arts-connected lessons.
Designed to reinforce learning across the curriculum, ACES lessons are based on the Alabama Course of Study standards for Arts Education/Dance, English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. ACES facilitators work one-on-one with Vaughn Road teachers to design, instruct, and reflect on movement-connected lessons that focus on kinesthetic instructional practices and emphasize critical thinking skills and the creative process. Students are immediately engaged in key concepts and are afforded more meaningful venues through which to demonstrate a deeper comprehension of core content and ideas. The ACES lessons assist students in understanding, retaining, demonstrating, and connecting their learning across subject areas.
ACES and AIEA are a deeply valued part of the instructional program at Vaughn Road Elementary. Vaughn Road Principal, Dr. Brenda Lindsey, wrote this statement of support…
“At the end of the 2019-2020 school year, our State Department of Education scores moved from a C to a B. I once again attribute that growth, at least in part, to the contributions of our AIEA specialists. The arts remain absolutely critical to our students’ overall development. Due to a continued lack of funding, our students have no exposure to the arts, unless we have the support of our Alabama Institute for Education in the Arts (AIEA) specialists.”
The ACES Program is supported by grants and donations from various entities, including the Alabama State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the J.K. Lowder Family Foundation, and the Alabama State Department of Education. Please contact Randy Foster, AIEA Executive Director, for further information about this program and others offered by the Alabama Institute for Education in the Arts.
