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On June 1, 2023, the CREC Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts Half-Day Program was recognized with the Arts Schools Network (ASN) 2023 Outstanding Arts Schools Award. This award is presented to a school with an outstanding record of overall excellence in the categories of faculty and student achievement, community recognition and involvement, arts and academics integration, curriculum innovations, continuing growth and development, and state and national recognition. ASN, the nation’s largest professional membership organization of specialized arts schools, will honor the school at the Awards Ceremony during the ASN 2023 Annual Conference, in Birmingham, Alabama from October 24-26.
In the 37-year history of the CREC Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts Half-day Program, change is the one constant that experience has taught the school to expect. The changes have taken many forms: The program has changed from audition-based to a lottery-based program; from a half-day program to a hybrid of both full-day and half-day arts, then back to a half-day arts program; from housing the program on one campus to expanding to two campuses, then splitting into two separate programs on two different campuses; from in-person learning to online learning; from a school district with a mission of inclusion and diversity to a new mission committing the district to social justice, equity, inclusivity, and anti-racism.
CREC’s resilience, creative thinking, and steadfast belief in the value of our arts program as a vital agent for change through social justice activism not only has helped it adapt to each new directive to change course, but also to parlay each change into a new version of excellence by which the program defines itself. Thirty-seven years after beginning the journey, as CREC’s first and longest-running magnet program, the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts Half-day Program continues to set the bar for arts education excellence in its district, in the state, and beyond with a new mission leading them into the future.
Dr. R. Scott Allen, Managing Director for ASN said, “Our organization offers guidance, inspiration, and incentives to arts schools and their leaders who strive for excellence on campuses across the country. When they demonstrate outstanding efforts toward this goal, we recognize and reward their achievements with awards such as this one.”
Dedicated to excellence and leadership in arts education, Arts Schools Network, a non-profit association founded in 1981, provides arts school leaders, innovative partners and members of arts education institutions with quality resources, support and networking opportunities.