Saving Art, Preserving Treasures
I, the undersigned, implore the Milwaukee Board of School Directors to take the following actions on behalf of the school community at Milwaukee HS of the Arts (MHSA):
Reverse the principals mandate for 10th-grade Visual Art students to take Intro to Engineering Design as 1 of their 2 core courses in the Visual Art curriculum.
Retain Room 106 as a dedicated classroom for the delivery of Visual Arts instruction, in compliance with MPS Administrative Policy 7.45 (2)(h) governing Art Education: *Art instruction shall be conducted in class space conducive to the study of art, including appropriate storage space, furniture, technology, tools, and sink access, when space exists. School leaders shall report to the Fine Arts Manager or equivalent subsequent position when the appropriate space does not exist.
Hold the MHSA principal accountable for engaging in Shared Decision Making practices for ALL curricular and programming decisions regarding Visual Art at MHSA, involving faculty, curriculum specialists, students, families, and community partners BEFORE decisions are made.
Updates
Reached 250 supporters
May 24, 2023
May 23, 2023
The administration remains silent despite our clear demands for proper art space and curriculum integrity. Send an email to your school board representative today to force a public conversation about this policy violation. We are currently organizing a group to testify at the next board session.
Reached 100 supporters
May 23, 2023
May 22, 2023
We are approaching 250 signatures and need to maintain this momentum to catch the attention of the Board of School Directors. Post this link on your Facebook page right now. Text three people who care about art education and ask them to sign today.
81 Comments
As a graduate of the school and one of the few students who was allowed to take classes in every major and took classes in room 106 this would be a great loss. Time in our classes for the arts is already limited and to insist that the students be forced to take a class that would not necessarily help them with what they want to be learning does not make very much sense.
Funneling a child's educational choices by mandating them aside from prerequisites and quite possibly a waste of time due to absolutely no interest in said madate is just a waste. Milwaukee High school of the Arts is for the creative arts. This is unfortunately a hindering of their educational path of probably most if not all students who attend there. A bona-fide waste.
Engineering is not the same as art. Offer it separately. Kids are not going to wake up excited to go to engineering class. It will not promote expression or confidence the way art does.
Please help High School of the Arts keep art electives that are essential to an ART EDUCATION. Forcing students to take a class they have no interest in creates stress, anger and depression. Allow our kids the right to study what they love so they can flourish.
As a parent of two students at MHSA, I was upset to not be included in decisions of this scale at our school. One of my children is a Visual Arts major and this was never discussed with the families, students, or parents.
Hi, I am a former student of MHSA. I still have the arts in my daily life, and I believe that you should not change things. The school brought inspiration to those who had none and brought life to those who feel that they’ve failed in every area of their outside life. Visual art is important to those Who learn and are creative visually. You should not change something that has inspired many students to be great and to be the people that they are today. Instead of trying to change something, how about you take the time out to know why Visual art is important to students and have a open mind to maybe learn something new on your end.
I was a virtual art major in MHSA so I would love to save to program
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Saving Art, Preserving Treasures
I, the undersigned, implore the Milwaukee Board of School Directors to take the following actions on behalf of the school community at Milwaukee HS of the Arts (MHSA):
Reverse the principals mandate for 10th-grade Visual Art students to take Intro to Engineering Design as 1 of their 2 core courses in the Visual Art curriculum.
Retain Room 106 as a dedicated classroom for the delivery of Visual Arts instruction, in compliance with MPS Administrative Policy 7.45 (2)(h) governing Art Education: *Art instruction shall be conducted in class space conducive to the study of art, including appropriate storage space, furniture, technology, tools, and sink access, when space exists. School leaders shall report to the Fine Arts Manager or equivalent subsequent position when the appropriate space does not exist.
Hold the MHSA principal accountable for engaging in Shared Decision Making practices for ALL curricular and programming decisions regarding Visual Art at MHSA, involving faculty, curriculum specialists, students, families, and community partners BEFORE decisions are made.
Updates
Reached 250 supporters
May 24, 2023
May 23, 2023
The administration remains silent despite our clear demands for proper art space and curriculum integrity. Send an email to your school board representative today to force a public conversation about this policy violation. We are currently organizing a group to testify at the next board session.
Reached 100 supporters
May 23, 2023
May 22, 2023
We are approaching 250 signatures and need to maintain this momentum to catch the attention of the Board of School Directors. Post this link on your Facebook page right now. Text three people who care about art education and ask them to sign today.
81 Comments
I was a visual arts major and graduate of 1997 and I’d be outraged then if you took my 2 hours of art away in any format to add a class no other major is being forced to comply with. Youth need to have a say in their craft to stay committed, therefore engineering classes could be electives for anyone regardless of major.
As a graduate of the school and one of the few students who was allowed to take classes in every major and took classes in room 106 this would be a great loss. Time in our classes for the arts is already limited and to insist that the students be forced to take a class that would not necessarily help them with what they want to be learning does not make very much sense.
Funneling a child's educational choices by mandating them aside from prerequisites and quite possibly a waste of time due to absolutely no interest in said madate is just a waste. Milwaukee High school of the Arts is for the creative arts. This is unfortunately a hindering of their educational path of probably most if not all students who attend there. A bona-fide waste.
Engineering is not the same as art. Offer it separately. Kids are not going to wake up excited to go to engineering class. It will not promote expression or confidence the way art does.
Please help High School of the Arts keep art electives that are essential to an ART EDUCATION. Forcing students to take a class they have no interest in creates stress, anger and depression. Allow our kids the right to study what they love so they can flourish.
As a parent of two students at MHSA, I was upset to not be included in decisions of this scale at our school. One of my children is a Visual Arts major and this was never discussed with the families, students, or parents.
Hi, I am a former student of MHSA. I still have the arts in my daily life, and I believe that you should not change things. The school brought inspiration to those who had none and brought life to those who feel that they’ve failed in every area of their outside life. Visual art is important to those Who learn and are creative visually. You should not change something that has inspired many students to be great and to be the people that they are today. Instead of trying to change something, how about you take the time out to know why Visual art is important to students and have a open mind to maybe learn something new on your end.
I was a virtual art major in MHSA so I would love to save to program
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I was a visual arts major and graduate of 1997 and I’d be outraged then if you took my 2 hours of art away in any format to add a class no other major is being forced to comply with. Youth need to have a say in their craft to stay committed, therefore engineering classes could be electives for anyone regardless of major.