The Los Angeles County Arts Education Collective awarded iLead Schools with an $18,400 Arts Advancement Grant, which is expected to be used at Santa Clarita Valley International (SCVi) Charter School, along with the organization’s other schools across the greater Los Angeles area, officials said.

The funds are expected to be used to expand theatre and dramatic arts initiatives at SCVi, as well as iLead’s other campuses: iLEAD Antelope Valley; iLEAD Lancaster; and Empower Generations, the organization’s school for pregnant and parenting teens.

“We are so grateful to the Los Angeles County Arts Education Collective for this funding, which will allow us to expand our exemplary theatre arts program to additional school sites throughout the greater L.A. area,” said Sara McDaniels, arts coordinator for iLEAD Schools.

Specifically, the organization intends to use the grant towards funding the implementation of theatre and dramatic arts professional development for all iLEAD teachers, not exclusively art specialists.

Furthermore, the funds should help offset the cost of teaching artists’ fees and generally enhance theatre and arts curriculum across all of the organization’s Los Angeles County schools.

“Since we opened SCVi’s doors 11 years ago, iLEAD Schools has been committed to providing our students with a comprehensive curriculum that includes equity, inclusion and the arts,” said Dawn Evenson, CEO and co-founder of iLEAD Schools, in a statement.

The award came in the wake of iLEAD’s participation in a week-long program specialized in training educators on the use of arts integration to enhance social-emotional learning, according to program officials.

“We believe immersion in these areas will exponentially increase our learners’ successes in both college and career,” Evenson said. “We’re looking forward to expanding our theatre and dramatic arts programs to our other learning studios and school sites throughout Los Angeles County.”

To learn more about SCVi, visit their official website here.

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