Actor Kal Penn is back at Harding Middle School, and musicians Shane Shanahan and Cristina Pato of The Silk Road Ensemble are at Madison Elementary. The artists are working with students and teachers thanks to the Turnaround Arts program, a White House initiative to integrate the arts into other curriculum areas to improve learning and achievement.

In May 2012, the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Education and the White House Domestic Policy Council, launched Turnaround Arts as a pilot program in eight schools across the country that were low-achieving and receiving federal School Improvement Grants. In Des Moines, Findley Elementary School was one of the first eight schools in the nation to participate in the program. Earlier this year, a national report found big gains in reading and math proficiency at Findley and the other original Turnaround Arts schools. Starting this school year, four additional DMPS schools – Cattell, Harding, Madison and Oak Park – are also participating in the Turnaround Arts program.