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Photos courtesy of Faith Lenhart.
Vestavia Hills City Schools was the only public school system chosen by the Arts Schools Network as one of 13 exemplary schools in the nation. Vestavia Hills City Schools arts programs include traditional art classes, theater, dance, band and choir.
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Photos courtesy of Faith Lenhart.
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Photos courtesy of Faith Lenhart.
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Photos courtesy of Faith Lenhart.
Vestavia Hills City Schools was recently selected as one of just 13 Arts Schools Network Exemplary Schools in the United States — and it was the only traditional public school system chosen.
Arts Schools Network designates Exemplary Schools who have made “outstanding efforts” in developing and planning their arts education programs.
Faith Lenhart, Vestavia Hills City Schools arts education director, said a growing focus on the arts is what led to the prestigious distinction.
“I was at the high school for 22 years, and in every discipline at the high school, I feel like we’ve always had fabulous faculty. We’ve always been supported at the building level, but also, especially now, at the district level. Just by creating the position that I ended up getting — that’s unheard of in a district the size of ours,” Lenhart said.
Vestavia Hills City Schools has 30 full-time arts educators. All elementary students have art and music weekly. The middle schools offer band, choir, visual arts, introduction to dance and introduction to theater. Vestavia Hills High School offers more than 40 different course options across disciplines including band, choir, theater, visual arts and dance.
“It is all about the kids,” Lenhart said. “Kids love arts and so that’s an easy sell to have as many students participating as we do. But I think that the content that we choose for them is what sets us apart, because the faculty doesn’t have to choose things that are as difficult or as challenging as they do, but we choose it because the kids grow. That’s how they get better.”
Lenhart said the focus and growth of the arts in the school district has been gradual over the last two decades.
“In the last 20 years, we have grown a lot just in the student body,” she said. “I was department chair for 12 years, and anytime I went to the administration and said we needed another art teacher or we needed an assistant band director, they always figured it out and we got it. They always met the needs of what our kids were telling us they wanted by the numbers that registered for the classes. That kind of support and focus is what has allowed us to grow our arts program.”
In the past year, Lenhart said the district had four winners in the annual Alabama State Superintendent of Education Art Show, with the overall elementary winner being from Vestavia.
“We’ve never had that many, ever, in the history of the contest to my knowledge and one of them was the elementary overall winner for the entire state, not just in a category, but the overall winner for the whole state in elementary,” she said.
Vestavia High School also excelled in theater, band and dance, with students in those disciplines winning several awards at the state level. The Vestavia Hills High School band has been invited to Rome to participate in a Christmas parade this year.
“We have students who really achieve academically in our district, and I think it’s really important that the kids have another way to achieve and can feel successful in another area,” Lenhart said. “The arts are academic, don’t get me wrong, but it’s different on that creative side, and that gives them a different way to achieve.
“Maybe some kids don’t achieve academically as well, but some of those kids shine in the arts. We don’t have a lot of kids who go major in art in college, but we have some,” she continued. “I think colleges now are looking for kids that are well-rounded and have a variety of experiences, and that’s what we do in the arts. We provide those experiences.”
Lenhart said the resurgence of the Vestavia Hills City Arts Council will be a boost to the schools
system as well.
“Having the arts council will allow for more events for our students to participate in that are community events, not school events,” she said. “The arts council will also help with our school events by helping to promote them.”
Not long after finding out about the Arts Schools Network distinction, Lenhart said Vestavia Hills City Schools found out it was placed on the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation’s list of Best Communities for Music Education. Now in its 24th year, the program recognized 830 school districts and 78 schools across 43 states for their support of music education.
“I think those two distinctions go hand-in-hand,” she said. “They both show that our arts programs are doing good things. We are proud to receive these distinctions. I’m proud for our students and faculty, for the jobs they have done.”
Lenhart also thanked parents for the little things they do to help the arts programs achieve.
“With parents, it’s the little stuff like working the concession stand on Friday nights for football games,” she said. “Our parents support the programs financially, and they volunteer their time, like in the concession stand or working at our choir festival or other performances throughout the year.”
With the national distinctions, Lenhart said it makes her want to improve and focus on the arts even more, and she thinks the students will feel the same way.
“Our students enjoy challenging themselves, and that’s what I expect this year even more,” she said. “I believe our students are proud of what they’ve accomplished, but they always want to do more and be bigger and better at what they do.”