ACCESS ART

Our Approach

Access Art's youth development focus is an extremely important part of the work we do and supports youth to become confident, professionally minded, and learning focused. We do this by providing youth with a safe space to be after school, positive adult relationships and role models, empowering activities to build self-esteem, and valuable opportunities for leadership. Our staff is consistently reevaluating curriculum to maintain an “elegant problem” for our students by creating an age appropriate learning dynamic which maintains a stimulating environment that challenges, supports, and facilitates a feeling of accomplishment. Through a strong curricular collaborative process and weekly staff meetings to contemplate the challenges of our individual youth, Access Art staff maintain a rigorous understanding of the demands each child is facing. To support the diverse learning styles of our youth, Access Art staff utilize practices of Universal Design by including enhanced visual supports and adapting art tools and techniques, incorporating diversified learning strategies within lesson plans, implementing specific daily behavior plans for youth with input from parents, and building attendance and engagement strategies with a student’s local school and teachers.