The University of California, Davis, and St. HOPE Public Schools have forged a partnership for arts education at Sacramento High School, it was announced at a news conference at the high school today. The university's assistance will support a School of the Arts, one of six curriculum areas that will comprise the new charter school.

The partnership, which builds on a 20-year UC Davis relationship with Sacramento High School, will involve three campus entities: the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts; the School of Education; and the Division of Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies.

"This is an exciting opportunity to better serve the youth of our community," said Margaret Fortune, superintendent of St. HOPE Public Schools, which also has a partnership with the UC Davis Medical Center to create a School of Health at the school. "We believe, as our partners at UC Davis do, that the arts have the power to change lives, to inspire the imagination, to foster creativity, to improve self-confidence, to teach discipline and to challenge us to think in new ways."

As the lead partner for Sacramento High Schools arts curriculum, UC Davis will work with St. HOPE to develop a comprehensive arts education experience that will touch all students at the high school. As part of this curriculum, Mondavi Center will bring world-class artists to Sacramento High School for master classes, lecture demonstrations, mentoring and other presentations. Mondavi Center will also bring Sacramento High School students to Davis for matinee performances by artists featured in its annual season of performing arts.

The partnership represents the next step in what has been a longstanding UC Davis commitment to Sacramento High School. For more than 20 years, UC Davis has served Sacramento High students through such programs as the Early Academic Outreach Program. In 1999, UC Davis' School/University Partnerships program formed a partnership with the school and established it as one of two high schools in the Sacramento area that provides a Chancellor's Achievement Award to UC-eligible graduates who participate in the campus's Reservation for College program. In 2000, the two collaborated to increase the school's graduation rate through a $1.5 million federal GEAR UP (Gaining Early Readiness for College) grant. Through a companion grant from the California State University system's California Academic Partnership Program, UC Davis has also developed standards-aligned instruction in writing and math, aimed at helping students pass the California High School Exit Exam.

"UC Davis deserves credit for contributing not only to better arts education, but also to the improvement of our youth and the community as a whole," Fortune said. St. HOPE and Mondavi Center are presently collaborating on "Vibalistic," a two-week series of events that examine the influence of hip-hop in contemporary arts. At the Guild Theater in Sacramento, Mondavi Center and other locations, "Vibalistic" will feature performances, competitions, film screenings, panel discussions and concerts presented Sept. 27 through Oct. 11.

"We are delighted to work with St. HOPE to enhance the arts education experience at Sacramento High School," said Brian McCurdy, director of Mondavi Center. "In the present climate of uncertain funding for the arts, partnerships such as this will provide a model for keeping the arts as a vital part of high school education. We applaud St. HOPE for recognizing the relevancy of arts education for all students, for those who aspire to careers as artists, but also for broader cultural understanding for students generally."

Harold Levine, dean of the UC Davis School of Education, said he is also enthusiastic about the collaboration between the university and St. HOPE.

"This partnership will use the diverse resources of UC Davis to create an outstanding arts education program at Sacramento High School," Levine said. He points out that the partnership will offer opportunities to combine the talents of the discipline-based faculty in dance, music, theater and visual arts with the teacher professional development resources of the School of Education, such as Sierra North Arts Project, and with Mondavi Center's extensive K-12 outreach and educational programs.

"This is a great opportunity to create a model of secondary arts education," he said.

The School of the Arts is one of six small liberal arts schools that will form the new Sacramento High School. St. HOPE Public Schools was awarded use of the facility as a charter school by the Sacramento City Unified School District. The other schools will be devoted to health; business; journalism; math, engineering and science; and public service.

Christine Minero, president of Sacramento High School, said, "We are very grateful and appreciative that UC Davis, through this partnership, understands the value of structuring a curriculum that is intellectually challenging and linked to students' lives and interests. Research shows that students are more likely to be active participants in the learning process when the coursework is structured around their particular interests. They attend school more often, are more engaged, have fewer discipline problems and have better achievement."

Students in the School of Arts will follow a course of study designed to satisfy the California Visual and Performing Arts Standards. Integrated into the core courses will be topics, assignments and thematic units related to the arts. Students also will be able to choose electives designed to provide a more in-depth look at arts-related topics.