A Creative Campus

Creative Learning Initiative logo with images of students and artists participating in arts-based learning
  1. Home
  2. Creative Learning Initiative
  3. A Creative Campus

CLI’s goal of making Austin ISD an arts-rich district starts at the campus. Each campus in the Creative Learning Initiative receives ongoing support in three key areas:

Creative Teaching Across the Curriculum

Creative Teaching is an instructional approach that teachers use to increase the rigor of instruction in all subject areas by using specific techniques from drama, visual arts, music, movement and digital media. These techniques engage students and require them to think deeply about what they are learning, and data shows that creative learning improves students’ test scores and engagement. Teachers are given professional development and one-on-one coaching support to deepen their understanding of the strategies and develop new, innovative areas for implementation.

Creative Teaching works by asking students to:

  • Generate ideas.
  • Use creative choices.
  • Make conceptual models.
  • Analyze and synthesize.
  • Translate and transfer.
  • Contribute perspectives.

Student Access to Visual and Performing Arts

Dance, drama, media, music and visual arts provide essential academic, artistic and personal skills for all young people. In partnership with the Visual & Performing Arts Department, the Creative Learning Initiative works to ensure all students have access to the arts throughout their school career, and are learning the important skills embedded in the arts.

Community Arts Partnerships

Through CLI, each participating school receives Community Arts Partner funding for students to experience arts in the community. Community arts partnerships expand the scope of teachers and the horizons of students. Each arts experience provides a unique set of connections to curriculum, creative thinking, and cultural heritage. Students can study in museums, see performances from professional actors or musicians, or learn from a teaching artist that connects their art form to what’s happening in the classroom. 

Partnerships with Austin artists and community arts organizations are vital in helping AISD move from being an arts-involved to an arts-rich school district.