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Story posted May 5, 2008. Results updated November 26, 2012.

Results:

• In 2011, Paternos School District improved on its 2010 state test performance across almost every subject in all but one grade.

• Students in both 7th and 8th grade reading improved proficiency rates by over 15% between 2010 and 2011; students in 7th and 8th grade math also had improved proficiency rates of over 15% in the same time period.

•  Despite serving a significantly higher percentage of low-income students, Paternos exceeds state proficiency averages in several grades for both reading and math.

Pateros School District, a small rural district in north central Washington, is working with a regional arts group in an indirect approach to improving student achievement.

By increasing access to arts education, the community and schools are increasing students' understanding of other cultures. The Methow Arts Alliance, in partnership with the school district and community, is bringing experiences to a small community that are typically available only to students in larger urban areas.

The alliance is a consortium of regional partners supported partly by a grant from the Washington State Arts Commission. The group's main purpose is to place artists in classrooms where they help students produce public art for permanent display. Students are also working with performing artists provided through the alliance.

Pateros, named the Washington state school district winner in the 2008 National Civic Star Award competition for its arts education initiative, is a K-12 district of 280 students. All students attend classes on the same campus, with only the music room and agricultural shop areas separated from the main school building.

The small setting keeps students among their peers, where they typically encourage and support each other. While the situation provides a positive learning environment, it has the potential for preventing exposure to a variety of cultural activities. By working with the Methow Arts Alliance, the school district is working to broaden students' horizons.

The alliance strives to integrate the arts with a variety of curricular areas. Since the school district and alliance joined forces, students have made stained-glass window installations, a large glass mosaic, fabric banners and a wall mural for the elementary wing of the school Students have also enjoyed performances by native American storytellers, various musicians and dancers.

While other factors may be involved, during the past four years since the arts program began, fewer instances of bullying have been recorded. Observers believe that this has resulted at least partly because students are gaining an understanding of other cultures.

Since the program began, students at Pateros School have increased their scores on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning. Reading scores for fourth-grade students have risen from 56 percent in 2002 to 82 percent in 2007. Seventh-grade reading scores rose from 46 percent to 59 percent, and tenth-grade scores climbed from 48 percent to 71 percent.

Both the alliance and school district are eager to continue the partnership that began four years ago.

This story came to LFA's attention as the Washington winner of the 2008 National Civic Star Award, presented by the American Association of School Administrators and Sodexo, Inc.

Story reprinted by permission of Sodexo School Services and the American Association of School Administrators, 2008.

For additional information, please contact:
Lawrence Keller
Superintendent, Pateros School District
509-683-1012
lkeller@pateros.org