Creative Youth Development
Creative Youth Development (CYD) uses the arts to thoughtfully nurture positive attributes in young people to equip them with skills for a bright future.
Key principles of CYD include promoting positive connections among individuals and community, centering and validating youth voices, using an asset-based approach, and reckoning with racial and social justice, all while maintaining high artistic standards.
Through CYD, students tap into their potential and build critical learning and life skills that carry into adulthood.
Universal Design for Learning
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) strives to minimize barriers to learning for all individuals, regardless of their disability status.
This is done by building classroom spaces, curricula, and lesson plans with all learning needs and types of learners in mind.
Virginia Standards of Learning
The final tenet of our teaching methodology is the Virginia Standards of Learning, which offer an outside perspective to validate and expand curriculum development at SPARC.
OUR IMPACT SPEAKS VOLUMES
SPARC measures the impact of our approach through regular teacher evaluations, student self-assessments, and family surveys. We use tools from the Boston Youth Arts Evaluation Project to measure growth in seven areas of youth development:
Artistic Engagement
Critical Thinking Skills
Expressive Communication Skills
From 2023-2024 We Found:
increase in critical thinking and problem solving
increase in communicating feelings and meaning
Increase in confidence in producing/presenting their work
Increase in using critique to improve their work
Increase in imagining a better future for oneself
Increase in learning about the cultural identity of others
“My son has grown so much into himself. The staff is just so talented, patient, and kind. It’s [his] second-favorite place — after Disney. He feels so welcomed at SPARC. At the end, it feels like he’s leaving a family.”
“SPARC is FANTASTIC. My children are absolutely thriving and it has trickled into all aspects of their life and we are forever grateful. I can’t say enough positive things.”
Have any questions about our teaching methods? Please reach out!
We are always accepting new students for upcoming classes, camps, and programs!
If you have any questions about SPARC or any of our offerings, please reach out to us by filling out our contact form on this page or by giving us a call at our office at (804) 353-3393.
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SPARC is supported, in part, by the Virginia Commission for the Arts, which receives support from the Virginia General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
