School Certification & Grant Management

Access to ABC Advancement Grants

ELIGIBILITY

  • The ABC Advancement Grant is a reserved grant fund, available only to ABC Certified Schools. Therefore, a school must first successfully demonstrate the priority to arts education as a means to student development through its philosophical commitments and be designated an ABC Certified School.

PURPOSE

  • The purpose of this South Carolina Arts Commission (SCAC) grant is to support ABC Certified Schools in their commitment to implementing standards-based arts curricula and to making the arts an integral part of the basic curriculum and daily classroom instruction.
  • ABC Advancement Grants provide financial support, that may otherwise be unavailable, to supplement the expenses required to achieve the highest quality and comprehensive arts education practices.

ACCESS

  • As an ABC Certified School, the school is eligible to receive ABC Advancement Grant funds for the next three fiscal years or the effective duration of certification. In order to remain eligible, a school must maintain ABC Certified School status which requires a reapplication for certification every three years.
  • Individual ABC schools maintain the responsibility to request funds from the SCAC on a yearly basis and fulfill all terms and conditions of a grant recipient as determined by SCAC.

How to Become an ABC School Arts Education Strategic Plan

ABC Schools are Model Schools

Among the Profession
ABC Schools serve as models for others to learn from, both in-state and across the country. Commitment to the arts is strategic in nature and often against popular trends, meaning it requires courageous and creative leadership.  Accepting the ABC Certification is accepting the responsibility of a professional learning community and agreeing to provide professional learning opportunities to others. This may be accomplished in various ways:

  • Allowing teachers, administration, policymakers, and other interested parties to schedule school visits
  • Allowing members of your school’s team to provide professional development to other schools
  • Contributing to state and national conferences and sharing best practices as an ABC School
  • ABC Schools are expected to participate in ABC School programming during the school year to meet with colleagues from other current ABC schools and discuss updates on arts education.
  • Principals are expected to participate in the ABC Peer to Peer Principals Network and are encouraged to attend the Joint Arts Administrators Institute, hosted by Palmetto State Arts Education.

Every School Designates a Certification Team

The ABC Certification Team is a core group of leaders from within the school’s governing stakeholders (i.e., Steering Committee) that sustains and grows their unique vision as an ABC School.  The ABC School’s Certification Team are responsible for the following:

  • Facilitates the on-going development and implementation of the school’s arts education strategic plan
  • Secure the resources, training, and commitments required to achieve the goals and objectives outlined in the arts education strategic plan
  • Inform and intentionally engage the entire school community of the arts education strategic plan and the philisophical commitments of being an ABC School

Every School Appoints a Grant Manager

The grant manager coordinates residencies, field trips, purchases and works with the school/district grant coordinator to assure all funds are spent responsibly and submits final report in May yearly