The Summer '96 Art Room

Army Trail School in Addison School District 4, Addison, Illinois was the second guest art room on Incredible Art Department.

      Addison is a western suburb of Chicago. Army Trail School is one of 8 schools in the District. Each class in grades k-5 sees the art teacher once a week. Their classes are taught in a room dedicated to art. Each teacher is responsible for 2 buildings, so the room is used for other part-time programs when teachers are not in attendance.

      Army Trail School has 15 classes of grades k-5 with approximately 360 students. Army Trail is special as they host all the English as a Second Language students from our district. This year they have over 18 languages spoken in the homes of their children. They also house a Spanish-based bilingual program. These children bring a different twist to their art program. While former art teacher, Bertie Ratliff, found it a challenge to instruct children who have no English to build on, she enjoyed seeing the art training students come with. Art truly is the universal language!

      Their art teachers completed an updated Scope and Sequence for their Art Curriculum. This ensures that every child in the District will have had the same core curriculum. While it is a comprehensive program, it also allows for individual approaches to the topics.