Outreach and Children's Education

Outreach and Children's Performances

The Sandler Center Foundation supports and manages several Impact Projects focusing on children's education and community outreach in the Coastal Virginia area:

IMPACT PROJECT:

Leveling The Performing Field (LPF)

Offering Opportunity and Access Through Dance

THE NEED: Virginia Beach City Public Schools' Culturally Linguistically Economically Diverse (CLED) gifted and high ability learners face a gap when auditioning to the City’s arts magnet schools or the Governor’s School for the Arts, and thus are unlikely to pursue education or careers in the arts.

THE IMPACT: Establish and fund a pilot program in collaboration with Virginia Beach City Public Schools Gifted Programs and Ballet Virginia through The Excellence Project to offer training/lessons, access to professional dancers, and equipment at four Title 1 public schools. Front-loading the dancer's lexicon, providing formal training, and giving access to professional dancers will allow the CLED gifted and high ability students to be exposed to the prerequisite skills needed to close the gap within the arts: thus, leveling the performing field. If successful, expand this project to other school locations.

MEASURING IMPACT: Increase acceptance rates of Virginia Beach City Public School students enrolled in the Excellence Project to arts magnet schools and the Governor’s School for the Arts. Program launched in October 2023.

LEARN MORE ABOUT LPF

IMPACT PROJECT:

Sandler Virtual Academy

THE NEED: Address catastrophic decline in test scores over the course of COVID and mental health challenges in Hampton Roads children in K-6^th Grades.

THE IMPACT: Providing digital programming that is aligned with SOLs (Standards of Learning), social and emotional, and STEAM focused along with corresponding curriculum guides to help teachers and students. This program has helped improve children's literacy and strengthen social and emotional learning for 45,000 children since it's inception in 2021.

MEASURING IMPACT: SCF participated in a nationwide study led by Purdue University in 2018 and 2019 with Virginia Beach City Public Schools to study the impact of the performing arts on children’s literacy. The results: Our student-focused programming impacts children's literacy levels positively across all socio-economic sectors.

IMPACT PROJECT:

Sandler Performances On The Road: Cinderella (2025)

THE NEED: Hampton Roads Title I Schools do not always have access to buses, teachers and chaperones, or time in the academic calendar for a partial day field trip to the Sandler Center. Address catastrophic decline in test scores over the course of COVID in Hampton Roads children in K-6^th Grades.

THE IMPACT: Provides funding for the Richmond Ballet, The State Ballet of Virginia, to offer age-appropriate, in-school programming to students in grades K-5. Programs are SOL (Standards of Learning) aligned. Richmond Ballet provides all administration and scheduling.

MEASURING IMPACT: 17 performances will be offered in 2025 at area schools. Award grant on an annual basis through our partnership with the Richmond Ballet. This program is made possible in part by a grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

In celebration of clearing skies and in anticipation of an even brighter future, the Sandler Center Foundation (SCF) is raising funds to advance children's education through the performing arts and help fund community arts organizations, including great performances at the Sandler Center.

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