Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts
1624 Trap RoadViennaVA22182
703-255-1933703-255-1924

Program: Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts Year Started: 1981 Focus: Multidisciplinary Arts Youth Served: 11,500 Ages:3-5 Budget: $800,000 The Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts teaches preschool children basic academic and life skills through participation in performing arts activities and trains their classroom teachers, through practical applications, to use the performing arts in education. Prior to the beginning of each 7-week class residency, the Wolf Trap artist meets with the teacher to design a curriculum that addresses the needs of the particular group of children and the teacher. The Wolf Trap artist goes into the classroom twice a week for 45-minute sessions and leads performing arts-based activities that are designed around an academic or social theme. In the seventh week, the classroom teacher designs, plans and teaches the last two lessons with guidance from the artist. Every 3 years, the Wolf Trap Foundation hosts a national artists conference for the artists who work in 10 regional Wolf Trap programs across the country and holds professional development workshops for teachers in local communities. "Funders are really beginning to understand how the program impacts the lives of children and adults," explains Miriam Flaherty, director of the Institute. "Learning Through the Arts helps the children develop effective cognitive and social skills." For instance, in Prince GeorgeÌs County in Maryland, the Public Schools Extended Elementary Education Program, the Head Start Program and the Special Education Preschool Program, which work with children 3-5 years old who are from low socioeconomic families and/or have low test scores, have participated in the Wolf Trap Foundation program. Nationwide, sites include public schools, Head Start preschool programs and private child development centers.