Brooklyn Academy of Music
At Community Roots we feel strongly that the arts can and should be both seen as enrichment as well as integrated throughout curriculum in order to make learning experiences rich and accessible to children with different types of learning styles. We have forged an institutional partnership with BAM in order to enrich the lives of our students, foster relationships with our families through the bridge that BAM can provide in their arts residencies, and collaborate with a neighborhood institution that was thriving long before us. BAM's goal is to provide to students the same caliber of groundbreaking, challenging work from around the world that it provides for adults. BAM believes that its arts education programs should inspire young audiences with curricula that address important artistic, social, and political issues. These residencies are designed to link educators, families, and teaching artists together through art mediums. The programs put in place support and enrich Community Roots' curriculum, help build community, and support the sharing of different cultures.
The teaching artists that are in residence each school year teach African Dance and Music. The teaching artists use a combination of their experience and expertise, Community Roots Exit Outcomes, and The Blueprint for the Arts to guide their instruction. Classroom teachers work as partners during workshops and therefore ensure that this time is an integral part of the Community Roots educational program.
Fort Greene Park
Community Roots Charter School is a short walk from Fort Greene Park. Playing in the playground, participating in park-based science classes with the Urban Park Rangers, painting a large mural, and going on walks in the park are some of the many ways our children benefit from this nearby natural environment.
Fort Greene Park is located in Brooklyn, New York, on a hill overlooking Wallabout Bay and downtown Brooklyn. Bounded by Myrtle Avenue, St. Edwards Street, DeKalb Avenue, and Washington Park (the continuation of Cumberland Avenue as it fronts the park), it is both a popular neighborhood park and a site of national importance. The thirty-acre park is home to tennis courts and playgrounds, and is host to events such as concerts, readings, and other civic gatherings. It is also the site of a Revolutionary War fort and a monument to Revolutionary War prisoners, who were held by the British aboard prison ships in Wallabout Bay. Today, a 148-foot column stands in the park commemorating these Prison Ship Martyrs. The monument is undergoing an extensive renovation, slated to be completed in fall '07. In 1846, Walt Whitman, the celebrated poet and then editor of The Brooklyn Daily Eagle was writing almost daily urging for a park in Brooklyn. As a result, Washington Park, later renamed Fort Greene Park, was established as Brooklyn's first park in 1847.
Urban Park Rangers offer tours and programming daily in Fort Greene Park, for both school children and the general public. In addition Fort Greene Park hosts a variety of free educative and creative programming including creative writing workshops for youth and seniors.
Kara Gilmour is the Fort Greene Park Coordinator who is working closely with Community Roots. She can be contacted via email at kara.gilmour@parks.nyc.gov or by phone at 718-722-3218.
You can also visit www.fortgreenepark.org or www.nycgovparks.org for more information about the park.
Parents and Children Together with Art (PACT)
At Community Roots we believe that the family unit is in integral part of the development of the child and offer programs that allow families the opportunity to work together through the arts. We partner with Free Arts NYC (www.freeartsnyc.org) to offer the PACT program to our families.
Free Arts NYC partners with group homes, shelters, schools and community centers to give children the opportunity to express themselves in a supportive environment in order to develop communication and trust. Their programs and the relationships they foster help children and families experience new levels of hope and creativity. Free Arts NYC volunteers and facilitators give all of the children and families they work with a high level of personal attention. Their volunteer to child ratio is often 1:1 and, at most, 1:3.
PACT is an eight week, theme-based art experience featuring activities designed to increase parental involvement and encourage positive forms of family communication. With a 1:2 volunteer to family ratio, program facilitators and trained volunteers provide creative arts projects that require collaboration of ideas and sustained teamwork. Working as a design team, families use the art as a vehicle to learn and enhance their own communication, collaboration, and sharing. Each session begins with an improvisational game, followed by an art experience, and ends with a sharing circle.
At Community Roots, PACT is offered for two cycles, once in the Winter and once in the Spring. It begins with a family dinner time which is then followed by art making. We are able to serve at least 30 families a year who come consistently and have created bonds of friendship with the PACT volunteers as well as with one another.
Essex Street High School
We currently partner with Essex Street High School to engage high school seniors as interns during our Winter-Spring school semester. Students at Essex Street are assigned to our school and go through a volunteering training program and ongoing intern development meetings to reflect on their work and gain skills. The high school interns are assigned to various classrooms throughout the school and their work varies from assisting teachers with tasks to being a mentor and leader to the younger students in the classroom.