{"id":1501,"date":"2015-01-20T06:45:00","date_gmt":"2015-01-20T14:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.rsed.org\/?p=1501"},"modified":"2017-12-17T04:34:11","modified_gmt":"2017-12-17T04:34:11","slug":"a-commitment-to-enrichment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rocketshipschools.org\/en\/latest-news\/blog\/a-commitment-to-enrichment\/","title":{"rendered":"A Commitment to Enrichment"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

\u201cThe President and I reject the notion that arts, history, science, writing, foreign language, physical education, geography and civics are ornamental offerings that can or should be cut from school when times are tough,\u201d Arne Duncan said during the 114th Annual National PTA Convention. \u201cIn fact, in the information age, a well-rounded curriculum is not a luxury but a necessity.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Most educators agree enrichment is key, yet nearly four million students<\/a> around the country don\u2019t have access to programs focusing on curricula like the visual arts. In high-poverty schools, students are twice as likely to go without enrichment programs. With per-pupil funding 20 percent less than it was forty years ago<\/a>, an ideological support for enrichment programs isn\u2019t enough. Districts and networks must reflect on how to expand meaningful enrichment offerings. Rocketship is no exception.<\/p>\n

When we opened Mateo Sheedy to 160 Rocketeers in 2007, our school model had many forms of enrichment embedded in the day and learning lab. A year later, the budgets crashed in California; our enrichment offerings took a hit as well. We still had enrichment \u2013 just a lot less of it.<\/p>\n

However, in the past few years, we\u2019ve innovated to bring back a truly holistic model complemented with rich enrichment programs. Rocketship has\u00a0greatly expanded our offerings and broadened our focus to include social emotional curricula<\/a>. Each of our schools offer two to four enrichment classes selected by school leaders, in addition to physical education, in an effort to design a balanced\u00a0educational experience aligned to each school\u2019s unique needs.<\/p>\n

Today, I am deeply proud of our holistic model serving more than 6,000 Rocketeers. Yes, it has areas where it can grow and improve. Yet, our schools offer a diverse range of experiences and lessons each and every day that unfortunately is often not available in many other traditional public schools, especially in low-income communities.<\/p>\n

I personally have a great deal of gratitude for Rocketship\u2019s dedicated enrichment coordinators. So do our Rocketeers. Here\u2019s what they had to say about some of their favorite enrichment classes:<\/p>\n\n\t\t