Books and Ballet

Curious about the first Fine Arts Academy in Texas—much less in a turnaround school—the team visited Austin's Blackshear Elementary. The first African American elementary school in then-segregated Austin, Blackshear began to decline as changes in the neighborhood affected the school. 
     Enter Betty Jenkins, a former high school dropout with a passion for theater. She had steered a successful turnaround at another Austin elementary school when she was tapped for Blackshear. As she worked with teachers and parents to raise students’ academic achievement, they wrote grants and began bringing professional artists in to work along classroom teachers. Because after-school programs can impose burdens on low-income families, the arts were integrated into the school day. Today, Blackshear students participate in classical ballet and training in cello and violin as well as theater, ukulele, plastic arts, and photography. Watch the video and learn more about Blackshear's success.