Hartford Performs Inc

Hartford Performs is all about providing Hartford kids with a solid and inspiring education using the arts. Our well prepared teaching artists teach a whole host of subjects, from math and science to reading and social studies – all through the arts. When kids learn to dance like molecules, drum geometric patterns, or act out a historical scene, they learn so much more deeply and lastingly. And while they’re drumming, dancing, acting or making a mural, they’re also developing desirable skills such as creative problem solving, critical thinking, teamwork and presentation skills.

 

Just as important, Hartford Performs also brings Hartford public school kids out of their classrooms and into some of the region’s finest professional arts venues. All second graders in our system see a live dance performance. All fourth graders attend a music concert. Sixth graders go to a museum, and eighth graders experience a professional theater production. For many of these kids this is the first time they have stepped foot in a museum or concert hall. It opens up a whole world of community resources to them they may never have known existed.

 

While giving children rich arts experiences, Hartford Performs also supports our city’s teachers by offering engaging and creative new ways to teach. We provide significant professional learning opportunities, as well as curriculum guides and models they can use both in partnership with teaching artists and on their own.

 

The results of this work are impressive. An independent assessment of our first three years of programming found that students who participated in Hartford Performs showed more improvement in their standardized reading test scores than their peers. Teachers also said that working with Hartford Performs had changed their approach to teaching, and that their students exhibited higher enthusiasm for learning when the arts were integrated into their classrooms.

 

Hartford Performs has a growing roster of 150 thoroughly vetted arts providers, mostly from here in Connecticut, and increasingly from throughout the Northeast, and elsewhere in the U.S., who are drawn to our work and want to further it. We currently serve every PreK-Grade 8 school in the Hartford Public School district -- that's nearly 14,000 students across more than 30 schools.

Our next major initiative is to expand to the city's high schools, providing teens with arts experiences that will inspire their learning, further their career aspirations and engage them in the community.

We invite you to help us bring the arts into kids’ learning and their lives by contributing to Hartford Performs today.