If the proposed D.C. Public Schools’ middle grades arts magnet turns out to be a flop, it won’t be for a lack of big-name backers.
Chancellor Michelle Rhee has pulled together the elite of the D.C. arts scene to serve on the school’s planning board, from jazz legend Wynton Marsalis to Kennedy Center President Michael Kaiser.
Septime Webre, artistic director of the Washington Ballet, will join them (even his name sounds artsy!), as will Tony Gittens, director of the D.C. International Film Festival and the District’s former lead man on arts and humanities.
Not one to stray from her vision, Rhee found an artistically minded numbers guy, too — Fred Bollerer, chief operating officer at Corcoran College of Art.
The commission will provide guidance on the school’s program design, and connections to resources in the city’s arts community. No word on whether that will extend to students’ ability to name-drop their way into Georgetown dinner parties.
The school is slated to open in fall 2011, and will provide a middle-school option in line with the city’s prestigious Duke Ellington School of the Arts high school. District officials are still scoping out space for the magnet, but have considered co-location at the renovated Eastern High School.
