Welcome to the PEAK Home Page
Learning in the arts. Learning through the arts.

Englewood Public Schools in collaboration with the Englewood Cultural Arts Center Association, was awarded a grant in 2003 from the United States Department of Education, Office of Innovation and Improvement, to conduct a three-year study of the impact that integrating art into elementary school curricula has on academic performance in reading and writing.

The PEAK project was based on the premise that involvement in the arts improves academic achievement. According to recent research in brain development, the arts have a unique way of providing learners with opportunities to simultaneously develop and mature multiple brain systems including integrated sensory, attentional, cognitive, emotional and motor capacities which are the driving forces behind all other learning (Arts with the Brain in Mind, Jensen, 2001) 

Capitalizing on this research, the PEAK project worked to improve academic performance with a focus on learning in the arts and learning through the arts. 

The project concluded in September of 2007. Click the Next button below for a review of grant activities and a link to the project final report.

Introducing

New Frontiers of Arts in Education, a new federally funded arts integration project of Englewood Schools, designed to measure the impact of visual art and music on academic achievement in middle school mathematics. Check back here for more information on this initiative or contact Susan Keene.

For more information contact PEAK and New Frontiers Director Susan Keene at susan_keene@englewood.k12.co.us.