James Whitcomb Riley School 43 Receives $10,000 Grant for Arts Education

As budgets tighten in educational settings, art and music programs often find themselves on the chopping block. However, Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) is focused on preserving education in the arts despite a challenging financial future for public schools across the state.

Arts education can often be overlooked, but at James Whitcomb Riley Elementary School, it is a top priority. This focus on the arts is one reason why the school received a $10,000 grant to further develop its arts education offerings.

"It's like mind blowing how this school has changed the last couple of months, and I love it now,” said 10-year-old Alonzo Brown, a fourth grader at James Whitcomb Riley School.

This academic year marks the first time that James Whitcomb Riley has been designated a Visual Performing Arts School. The grant will help the school maintain its instruments and purchase music and sound tracks for different performances throughout the year.

"It is just a great opportunity for us to not just have something but sustain the offerings we have here for our students," said Crishell Sam, principal at James Whitcomb Riley School.

IPS will have tough decisions to make in the future. The district recently shifted some related arts teachers to provide instruction across two schools for the 2025-26 school year, affecting eight schools. However, this shift does not impact the related arts courses or curriculum that students receive or the amount of instructional time per week.

"The goal is to optimize the time related arts teachers spend teaching by adjusting how they are scheduled across schools," said a district spokesperson.

Despite these changes, IPS remains committed to arts education. The district has historically shared teachers between buildings and believes this adjustment will allow teachers to maximize instructional time while maintaining high-quality related arts education for students.