The Georgia Department of Education has recognized five schools with its Creative School Arts Integration School of Excellence Award, honoring schools where arts integration is embedded across subjects and accessible to all students.

This year's recipients are:

• Adairsville High School (Bartow County)
• Baggett Elementary School (Gwinnett County)
• Springdale Park Elementary School (Atlanta Public Schools)
• West Jackson Elementary School (Jackson County)
• Wynnton Arts Academy (Muscogee County)

These schools demonstrate strong rigor and relevance in arts-integrated instruction, sustained professional learning for teachers, effective program organization, and meaningful community involvement in the arts. All K-12 public schools in Georgia were eligible to apply for the award.

"The schools awarded today exemplify the kind of innovative, engaging instruction we want every student in Georgia to have access to," State School Superintendent Richard Woods said. "I congratulate the educators, students, families, and community partners who have earned this recognition through years of hard work and creativity. Expanding access to fine arts instruction has been a longstanding priority for my administration because we know the arts help students deepen their learning, express their ideas, and discover their strengths. These schools show what's possible when the arts are fully integrated into the educational experience, and they serve as models for schools across our state."

Arts integration allows students to synthesize content and create new ideas, connections, and solutions. The Creative School Arts Integration School of Excellence Award promotes arts integration as a way to increase engagement and learning in and outside of the arts classroom, recognizing schools that treat the arts as essential instructional tools rather than enrichment activities.

"These schools reflect the depth and variety of arts integration happening across Georgia," GaDOE Fine Arts Specialist Paul McClain said. "From elementary through high school, their educators are collaborating across disciplines, engaging community partners, and using the arts as a core instructional strategy. The result is learning that is rigorous, student-centered, and deeply connected to academic standards and creative practice."

School Stories

Baggett Elementary School

At Baggett Elementary School in Gwinnett County, arts integration is embedded across grade levels through interdisciplinary, project-based instruction developed collaboratively by classroom teachers and arts specialists. Students use dance, theatre, music, visual arts, and media arts to demonstrate learning in core subjects, with all students rotating through multiple fine arts disciplines. Learning is extended through professional teaching artist residencies and showcased through performances, exhibitions, and schoolwide events.

Springdale Park Elementary School (SPARK)

At Springdale Park Elementary School in Atlanta, arts integration is implemented daily across each content area as a core instructional practice. Teachers design interdisciplinary units in which students use visual art, music, drama, movement, and design to meet academic standards, supported by shared planning and dedicated creative spaces. Student learning is shared through exhibitions, performances, and community events, with additional support from professional arts partnerships.

Wynnton Arts Academy

At Wynnton Arts Academy in Muscogee County, arts integration is delivered through a collaborative schoolwide model in which classroom teachers, fine arts teachers, and the librarian co-plan and co-teach interdisciplinary instruction. All students participate in standards-based, project-based learning guided by the Wynnton STEAM Process and rotate through fine arts classes. Student work is presented through performances, exhibitions, and sustained community and postsecondary partnerships.

Adairsville High School

At Adairsville High School in Bartow County, arts integration is a schoolwide instructional approach aligned with the school's STEAM certification goals. Students apply artistic processes alongside academic and STEM content through theatre, music, visual arts, media production, esports, and interdisciplinary projects. Learning is demonstrated through performances, media products, and design-based work and shared through courses, competitions, and public events.

West Jackson Elementary School

At West Jackson Elementary School in Jackson County, arts integration is implemented schoolwide as a standards-based practice aligned with Georgia STEAM certification. All teachers embed visual art, music, drama, movement, and media arts across content areas, ensuring all students regularly participate in arts-integrated learning. Instruction is reinforced through fine arts classes, artist residencies, field experiences, and community-connected projects.

History of Fine Arts Expansion in Georgia

GaDOE has been focused on expansion of fine arts instruction throughout the last decade. In 2015, Superintendent Woods created the agency's first state-level fine arts role – now a team of three supporting multiple fine arts disciplines. This team has expanded virtual fine arts access, developed curriculum resources for arts courses, and launched a statewide dashboard to track fine arts access. To represent arts stakeholders from across the state, they also convened a District Arts Coordinators Council and established a Fine Arts Advisory Committee.

GaDOE also introduced Science, Technology, Engineering, and Arts (STEAM) school certification focused on arts integration with STEM instruction, created new fine arts pathways and a Fine Arts Diploma Seal, and invested more than $2 million in grants to help school districts launch, build, and sustain fine arts programs.

This year, Superintendent Woods worked with legislators on Senate Bill 556, which expanded HOPE Scholarship rigor recognition to include qualifying fine arts coursework.

The arts remain a core priority for the agency outlined in the Student Bill of Rights, which affirms students' right to access opportunities aligned to personal needs, interests, and passions – including the fine arts.