• The Arts
• The Students of Douglas
• The Parents of Douglas
• Partners in Education

The Arts at Douglas School hold a threefold purpose: Personal fulfillment, understanding of the Arts in history, and understanding of the Arts in society. Through creating or inventing, observing or analyzing, performing or viewing the Arts, children build feelings and understanding about the Arts, aesthetics, humans, and the environment.

Douglas School is fortunate to have three full-time Arts Team members: A Visual Arts Teacher, a Musical Arts teacher, and a Movement Arts teacher. These three educators work together as a team to coordinate their lessons. More importantly, they work together with other staff members to coordinate what they are covering with what is being covered in the classrooms. Because of the nature of Integrated Curriculum, elements of the Arts are woven into the thematic units the students complete in their classrooms, while at the same time, the Arts classes have components of the general curriculum as well.

The students come to the Arts once a week. In addition, they are given opportunities to participate in smaller group classes called a “Special”. A “Special” is an extra subject the Arts teacher would like to teach; for example, ceramics, choir, and choreography class.

Several times each year students of Douglas School have the opportunity to perform for the school community. These performances might take place at school assemblies or sharings, or might be a part of traditional school events. International Night and the Douglas Arts Festival are two yearly events where the Arts take center stage.

What does Arts Impact really mean?

Interdisciplinary
Model
Program
  For teaching the
Arts
  To
Children
  And
Teachers

Impact Statement
Teaching and Learning Through the Arts

Arts IMPACT is a teaching/learning approach in which the Arts are infused deeply into the curriculum. The major goal is to make the educational process more positively productive, more humanizing, challenging and enjoyable for everyone involved: students, teachers, and administrators. Some basic objectives are:

1. To develop the Arts as a vital part of the general education of every student.
2. To make the Arts integral, rather than peripheral, to the curriculum.
Teaching ARTS IMPACT requires commitment and creativity on the part of the teachers, parents, and students.

Thematic Units & Integrated Curriculum

With the use of Integrated Curriculum at Douglas School, students in grades 3-5 learn through the use of Thematic Units. These units, developed by the Douglas School staff, are a unique way to cover the Course of Study (Benchmarks) of the Columbus Public Schools and achieve competency in each of the Learning Competencies set forth by the State Department of Education, while still individualizing curriculum according to student needs, instructional levels, and interests. Thematic Units are a method whereby all aspects of the curriculum are focused upon one theme or idea. All elements of Literacy, the Humanities & Sciences, and Mathematics, along with the Arts, can be combined to form the instruction and learning taking place within the building. Thematic Units are sometimes building-wide, yet usually occur within learning areas.

Playing a role in the development of our Thematic Units are the Theories of Multiple Intelligences, first proposed by Howard Gardner in 1984. The concepts of individual student strengths in various “intelligences,” and the need to both enrich areas of strength and nourish areas of weakness help guide us in the development of our units.

Through the use of Thematic Units and Integrated Curriculum, we are able to model for students the very nature of interconnectedness we hope to instill within them.

Instrumental Music

Instrumental music is offered to students. Fourth grade students may take string instruments. Fifth grade students may take brass, woodwinds or percussion as well as string instruments. It is the responsibility of parents to provide each child’s instrument. These may be rented or purchased from local music stores. The students will perform several times during the year.

There are many things that make Douglas School “Someplace Special.” First on this list are our students. Our children, in grades PreK-5, come for all areas of the Columbus Public School District. Admission to Douglas is 100% by lottery, meaning no student is assigned, and all of their caregivers have chosen Douglas for specific reasons.

Our students come for many and varied reasons. While some are at Douglas through family affiliation, a sibling or cousin who was successful here, many arrive at Douglas because their parents have heard good things about the school, like what they see, and value the type of environment we have created. Students and parents have commented that they are at Douglas because they “like it here,” and they “feel comfortable in our building.” Others have commented that they appreciate the chances to be creative, and feel that they can "“be themselves."

Because we are a city-wide lottery school, we draw children from literally every geographic area that lies within the Columbus Public School District. Some take long bus rides twice a day because they think the benefit is more than worth the hardship of a long bus ride. We have a reputation for being able to take students who were unsuccessful at other buildings and work with them to help them become valued, successful learners with a true sense-of-purpose.

Because we have such a high value of diversity, Douglas does not celebrate holidays, but respects the background of every one of its students. We discuss family traditions and explore many other cultures and countries. Our Annual International Night and Arts Festival are two ways of sharing the results of these studies with the community. The student is at the center of the learning process at Douglas, and is the focal point for each decision we make.

The second part of the dynamics that make Douglas School “Someplace Special” is the role played by our students’ parents and our parent group. Douglas parents take an active part in the educational process, and are invested in not only the success of their child, but in the success of the school and all of its pupils.

Parents are encouraged to volunteer in classrooms, and many are regular participants in this endeavor. Additionally, as we aspire to have 100% participation in student/parent/teacher conferences two times a year, regular school to home contact, as well as social events and school programs, parents become very involved in the goings-on of their child’s school. We have a proud legacy of parents sending all of their children through Douglas School, and are now seeing the children of our former students as well.

Parents take a special interest in the well-being and achievement of our students, and many are more than willing to give special attention to students who may be more needy than the rest. We take special pride in the ability of our parents to describe our school philosophy and mission to prospective parents. Along with their children, they are our school’s strongest ambassadors.

In our school we are also fortunate to receive the volunteer services of many wonderful adults through the “Russian Foster Grandparent Program.” These volunteers serve six hours a day, four days a week throughout our building. While we are helping them master English, they are providing us with a wealth of background knowledge and experience.

Our parent organization is the Douglas Community Association. As it has no national affiliation, 100% of the funds generated stay right within the school. The DCA provides opportunities for our children through their fundraising and generous support of our school programs. In addition to hosting social events and coordinating school performances and programs, the DCA raises funds ($100s per year) to help buy library books and specialized equipment, equip all classrooms with telephones , fund special projects, support to our staff and our students. Membership in this group is open to all staff, parents, and friends of Douglas School, with only a nominal fee for dues.

STRS began their tutorial partnership with Douglas Alternative School in 1999. Employees from State Teachers attend two training sessions a year and come to Douglas every week to work with students for 35 minutes, reinforcing reading and writing skills. This is an opportunity for students to have one-on-one attention. Students are selected to work with our tutors by fall testing scores and teacher recommendation. We are fortunate to have over fifty tutors weekly tutoring grades K-5.

This is a program that originated in New York and has been successful there for several years. The program consists of volunteers who are trained to be “coaches” to our students. Coaches call our selected students weekly to discuss goals and how to achieve them. Douglas was chosen as a pilot school for this program that was underwritten by Motorist Insurance. In fact, all of the coaches are employees of Motorist. Presently, we have approximately 14 students and their families involved with this program and Motorists is looking into the possibility of expanding it with other corporations and schools in the future.

Douglas Alternative Elementary also works closely with: The Ohio State University Teacher training program, The James Thurber House, Children’s Hospital, and the Columbus Family and Child Guidance Centers.

Douglas is a second year recipient of the EETT grant awarded to Columbus Public Schools. This grant focuses on fourth grade math improvement. The school will be receiving two 16 laptop carts and accessories in addition to RiverDeep Destination Math web-based curriculum.