The West Metro Education Program (WMEP) announced today that its magnet school in downtown Minneapolis has been renamed the Fine Arts Interdisciplinary Resource (FAIR) School Downtown. In addition, the school has shifted its emphasis toward using the fine arts to facilitate instruction and to create equitable educational opportunities for students in grades K through 12.
The school, located on the corner of 10th Street and Hennepin Avenue in the heart of the commercial district, was formerly known as the Interdistrict Downtown School (IDDS).
In a brief renaming ceremony held today, WMEP Superintendent Daniel Jett, Ph.D., noted that FAIR School Downtown represents an expansion of the school district's distinctive arts programming at its award-winning FAIR School in Crystal, Minnesota.
"We know that an education using the fine arts, combined with the latest teaching technology, can help level the playing field and improve the racially predictable achievement gap in academic test scores," said Jett. "By bringing this successful approach to a K-12 school in downtown Minneapolis, we are committing to equity in educational opportunities in the central city as well as in the suburbs."
FAIR School Downtown offers students and their parents a unique educational experience. Through its many professional partnerships with arts and business organizations in the central city, the school gives students a chance to apply their classroom knowledge in a commercial setting.
The school is located across the street from major theatrical venues that are part of the Hennepin Theater Trust. It has relationships with the Pimsler Dance Theater, MacPhail Music School, Stages Theater Company, Wells Fargo Bank, the University of St. Thomas and Target Corporation. Students are also provided with new MacBook computers to support the 1:1 laptop initiative in 9th grade, helping to ensure computer literacy.
"The name change signals the beginning of a new and more powerful approach to equitable education in the heart of the city of Minneapolis," said Jett. "We are determined to help all of our children succeed academically and socially."
The West Metro Education Program, an integration district focused on student success, is a voluntary consortium of 11 urban and suburban school districts in the Minneapolis metropolitan area formed in 1989.
CONTACT: Daniel L. Jett, 612-752-7203
Source: West Metro Education Program
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