An Interview with Andrew McGuire


We sat down with Andrew McGuire at the Detroit Public School Community District offices in the Fisher Building in downtown Detroit.


Colleen: Could you tell us who you are and what you do?


Andrew: I’m Andrew McGuire. I’m the assistant director of Fine and Performing arts for Detroit Public School Community District (DPSCD). I oversee the district’s growth of our K-8 art, music, theater and dance initiatives and programs across the district. Tat ranges from curricu- lum development, implementation, professional development (PDs), recruiting and retention of teachers, etc. I was a K-3 music educator in the public schools in New York, and then came back home to Detroit and was a teaching artist in what was then called Detroit Public Schools, taught for six years in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) as a K-8 general music teacher and built a rock band program and the first curricular modern band program for CPS. My approach stems from listen- ing to students, where their growth is, and where they want to go, and providing the initial space and place for them to feel safe, create and express themselves through music.


Jessica: Walk us through the history of the DP- SCD.


A: Two years ago, the district emerged from emergency financial management with a local- ly-elected school board, which then did a national search and appointed Superintendent Dr. Niko- lai Vitti. During our first year, our biggest liſt was ensuring that we had arts teachers in all of our buildings K-12. So every student across the district is receiving either art, music, theater, or dance. In the second year, we worked to ensure that every school had somebody there who was certified, receiving professional development (PD), and implementing a curriculum that is aligned with national and state standards. Having a Whole Child education is one of our priorities— so what does that look like? Tat looks like arts for all. We have expanded our K-8 arts program- ming to every student. Every child in the district is receiving an arts education.


Colleen McNickle and Jessica McKiernan


C: What is your vision as we’re coming into year three and beyond? Are you happy where the arts program is right now?


A: No, we’re not happy—yet. Te vision is to keep growing. We are at a very strong crawl. We’ve gone from over fiſteen years of having our arts programs almost decimated to two years of im- mense growth. We have kids in arts classrooms. We have teachers that are receiving PD. We have resources being poured into our classrooms. Tose are wonderful first steps. Tat’s in a very short amount of time, and that’s what our stu- dents deserve and what they’re entitled to. Are we happy there? No. Tere’s more. Tey need more. Tey deserve more.


J: What are some of the unique programs or ini- tiatives the district has to offer in regards to arts education?


A: Building:Arts is definitely unique. We’ve launched a community-wide initiative beyond Detroit asking people to donate new and gently used instruments and equipment (like mouth- pieces, reeds, all of the incidentals) to our schools. Te goal initially was finding which businesses and partners feel the call-to-action and want to take on an initiative as small or big as they can. Private and public companies wanted to do this. Tey ended up doing community drives on their own, and then creating internal spaces from which we can pick up instruments. For example, all 22 branches of the Detroit Public Library System are drop off sites for instruments and arts supplies. I think that when you create an instrument and arts donation drive in a district this size, that’s a huge call to action. It gives the community a purpose and a place to help. It gives them something they can do.


We also have developed and implemented the Cultural Passport Program which gives all of our K-5 students three cultural experiences across the city each year. A lot of our students live in Detroit, but they’ve never been downtown. Te Detroit Institute of the Arts or the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, or Michigan Opera Teater may be in their backyard, but they’ve never had these expe- riences. Tis is free of cost to families. What’s so


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Policy & Advocacy


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