OLENTANGY | LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT "Our mission is to facilitate maximum learning for every student" Olentangy's Vision Our students will perform at a level that surpasses or is equal to their anticipated level of achievement based on measured ability. We will promote high expectations for students in all areas: academic, artistic, physical, health, citizenship, and service. In a fiscally responsible manner, we will commit the resources necessary to establish and maintain: A respectful, caring, and safe environment Research-based, student focused instruction Information-driven decision making A focused and challenging curriculum Collaboration focused on improving student learning An active partnership with parents and community As the crisis in public school funding has spread across the United States and Canada, public school administrators and school boards have been faced with massive cuts in budgets. Coupled with a continuing panic for raising test scores in math and science and the concern for technology awareness and literacy, funding shortfalls have stimulated a seemingly voracious appetite for devouring arts curricula. This panic has been so severe and irrational as to cause the discounting of significant studies indicating the importance of the arts in a balanced curriculum. Students of the arts continue to outperform their non-arts peers on the SAT, according to reports by the College Entrance Examination Board. In 2004, SAT takers with coursework or experience in music performance scored 57 points higher on the verbal portion of the test and 40 points higher on the math portion than students with no coursework or experience in the arts. Scores for those with coursework in music appreciation were 63 points higher on the verbal and 41 points higher on the math portion. The College Board recognized that while no causality could be established at this point, results indicate, "students' scores tend to increase with more years of arts study." And, "Students who take arts courses have generally higher SAT scores than those who do not take arts courses. The more arts work a high school student takes, generally speaking, the higher his or her SAT scores. This is especially evident in students' verbal mean scores. This information suggests that students cannot justifiably be counseled to cease taking arts courses (emphasis added) because other courses can better prepare them for college and the SAT."