About
LEAP uses the power of the arts to teach social and emotional learning (SEL) skills to NYC public school students. Founded in 1977 in response to drastic CUTS to arts education funding, LEAP now delivers school-day residencies, comprehensive after-school programs, family engagement workshops, summer programming, and original, historically-informed theater productions for schools and other audiences. Throughout the 2022-2023 school year, we delivered 22 comprehensive after-school programs, benefiting 2,637 children, alongside 203 residencies and 102 family engagement programs. Our signature theater programs served 1,750 youth across 13 theater residencies. In total, we proudly served 11,370 youth across ALL five boroughs. LEAP's mission is to partner with school communities to offer creative arts programs that encourage new YORK city youth to pursue their passions, develop their strengths, and amplify their voices. We envision a city where education is equitable, and the arts are accessible for youth in communities that are RICH in culture and capability and have been intentionally and unintentionally excluded and under-resourced. Youth in our communities will be the next generation of lifelong learners, creative problem solvers, and collaborative leaders. We are helping to prepare youth for successful futures by developing the qualities they need to excel in school and life beyond the classroom. LEAP programs reach new YORK city students with enormous potential who are underserved in the arts due to limited school resources and historic community exclusion from these opportunities. Through LEAP programs, young people develop skills to enhance creative expression, master academic content, and develop social and emotional competencies, which increase their potential to succeed as students, individuals, and participants in the 21st-century creative workforce. LEAP's staff, administrators, and classroom teachers work closely to create programming that addresses specific skills for their students with activities that support the new YORK state arts learning standards, new YORK state common CORE learning standards, and the new YORK city blueprints for teaching and learning in the arts. Culminating events in schools engage administrators, teachers, parents, and parent coordinators, and the students' work is showcased. ALL residencies are conducted by LEAP teaching artists, a highly trained group of more than 400 professional artists representing a wide variety of specialties, including poetry, dance, theater, music, visual arts, fashion, design, and new media arts.
DBA Arts Program INC
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