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GETTING STARTED

You have an idea! You share that idea with another teacher, administrator, program director or parent. An initial Steering Committee is born which will expand over time. But a small group of interested individuals can begin conceptualizing a residency’s focus, design, goals and impact for the grant application. Download, print out, make copies of the AIE Residency Grant Guidelines and Application, and distribute along with this Handbook to Steering Committee members. The Guidelines, Application and Handbook are designed as residency planning tools that can be used to guide your discussion. Visit www.njartscouncil.org to view the guidelines and application.

Attend one of the free AIE Technical Assistance (TA) Workshops (which will be listed in the guidelines) or contact AIE Consortium members by phone or e-mail for assistance with the process and answers to any questions.

Forming A Steering Committee

Form a Steering Committee to assist in establishing goals for the residency, providing support and gathering resources for participating teachers and the artist. This is a working committee that should include:

• Principal, administrator or director
• Arts specialists
• Classroom teachers
• Other school staff
• Parents
• Community members
• Students
• PTA members
• Education Foundation representative

Teacher engagement is essential

If a principal, superintendent, other school supervisor, PTA/PTO member, parent, or district grant writer is initiating the grant application, make sure that teachers are actively included and engaged in the residency planning from the onset. Teacher commitment and buy-in are essential to creating a successful long-term residency. A Teacher Liaison also will need to be identified to sign off for the participating teachers on the grant application.

Determine key roles and define responsibilities:

Theatre Residency at Robert Morris School, South Bound Brook

Administrative Coordinator – the principal, vice principal, director or other administrator who has the authority to arrange scheduling and approve all other site arrangements that are needed for the smooth operation of the program.

On-Site Coordinator – a teacher, department head, program manager or arts specialist who acts as the Residency Artist’s liaison to the site, teachers, students and community. The On-Site Coordinator is responsible for the school group’s direct communication with the Residency Artist and the AIE partner.

Teacher Liaison – represents teachers on the committee in the event that the On-Site Coordinator is not from the teaching staff. This ensures that teachers have a leadership role and voice in any residency planning and ongoing development.

Participating Teachers – those who will work with Core Group students or Participating Students. Identify the teacher or teachers who will attend the Artist/Teacher Institute (aTi), a cosponsored NJSCA program with Arts Horizons.

Now that you have your team, meet and start the process:

Assessing School Needs

• What arts discipline do you want to explore and why?
  • to help expand the existing arts curriculum?
  • to help your school meet the Core Curriculum Content Standards in the Visual and Performing Arts or Language Arts and Literacy?
• What is the focus for student learning and professional development for teachers/administrators?
• What do teachers want or need from this experience?
• How can you make stronger connections to your community?
• Do you need time to explore all of the above through a planning year?
• Is 20 days (the minimum application requirement) sufficient for the residency goals and objectives? (You may plan and request additional days.)