Jackson School of the Arts began in 2008-2009 as a school within a school in James A.
Jackson Elementary School for students in Kindergarten through Fifth Grade. The Arts
instruction consisted of dance, theatre, music, and visual arts. Clayton County Public
Schools established the magnet/theme program as a response to current research which
indicates a direct correlation between Arts Education and student achievement.
In 2018-2019, Clayton County Public Schools renamed and opened Kay R. Pace Elementary
School of the Arts.
The promotion of the Arts for Kay R. Pace School of the Arts is set forth in the mission
of integrating the Arts to:
1. Improve student achievement through rigorous academic and arts instructional
programs
2. Increase student achievement in the arts on the secondary level by introducing a
rigorous arts-based curriculum through the primary grades
3. Attract highly talented students to Clayton County
4. Provide additional choices for parents and students in Clayton County
The Rationale for Arts integration and the Arts program is to offer students
opportunities to focus on excellence in academics while discovering, exploring and refining
their talents and interests in the Arts.
The Vision is a learning community where students achieve high academic standards,
develop good citizenship qualities and enhance their artistic expression
Arts integration is beneficial to student learning. Children teach themselves by gathering
information and experiencing the world around them. This type learning is the basis for
constructivism. Constructivism emphasizes the importance of the knowledge, beliefs, and
skills an individual brings to the experience of learning. It recognizes the construction of
new understanding as a combination of prior learning, new information, and readiness to
learn. Students make choices about what new ideas to accept and how to fit them into
their perception of the world (Ryder, 1994).
