ArtsEd Washington is excited to introduce our new group of principals participating in the Principals’ Arts Leadership (PAL) program this year. Through this program, the principals will be positioned as the instruction leaders in the arts, empowering them in a role to effectively guide the expectations for teachers and providing them with tools to help them increase their schools’capacity for bringing the arts to every student.

Please join us in welcoming the following principals and their schools:

• Anne Fitzpatrick – Kimball Elementary School, Seattle
• Pat Hunter – Maple Elementary School, Seattle
• ElDoris Turner – Van Asselt Elementary School, Seattle
• Bonnie Wong – Meadow Ridge Elementary School, Kent
• Gerrie Garton – Black Diamond Elementary School, Enumclaw
• Guy Kovacs – G.W. Edgerton Elementary School, Puyallup
• Laura King – Spinning Elementary School, Puyallup
• Anita Roth – McKinley Elementary School, Tacoma

If one of these schools is in your community, we encourage you to stop by to congratulate the principal and offer your support.

Since their acceptance into the PAL program, principals have been busy creating their Arts Teams – the leadership group comprised of teachers from their school, and the community (parents, artists, business and civic leaders). The team brings together multiple talents that will work with the principal in developing a School Arts Vision and Arts Plan. We look forward to meeting these teams at their first PAL Schools Workshop in late January.

We would like to extend a thank you to our PAL program funders including the Clowes Fund, 4Culture, The Robert B. McMillen Foundation, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation. We would also like to thank the Seattle Asian Art Museum for hosting our January workshop training.

About Principals Arts Leadership

The central role of the principal as instructional leader in the arts is a core tenet of the PAL program and is based on national research findings. The Arts Education Partnership’s 1999 study, Gaining the Arts Advantage: Lessons from School Districts that Value Arts Education, highlights the role of the principal as the primary instructional leader at the school level. The findings showed that principals create the expectations and climate within the school building and their support for arts education is essential, if it is to flourish. Through the PAL program, ArtsEd Washington uniquely positions the principal as the central figure in advancement of arts learning. Learn more about our PAL program.