West End House has launched the spring quarter of its Extended Learning Time, an arts education initiative funded by the Liberty Mutual Foundation, as well as funded in part by BPS Arts Expansion, a multi-year effort focusing on access, equity and quality arts learning for BPS students. The BPS Arts Expansion Fund, managed by EdVestors, is generously supported by the Barr Foundation, The Boston Foundation, Katie and Paul Buttenwieser, Connie and Lew Counts, Hunt Alternatives, Klarman Family Foundation, Linde Family Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Rhonda S. ZInner Foundation. The Wallace Foundation supports the broader work of BPS Arts Expansion.

West End House’s Extended Learning Time is a unique collaboration with the Jackson Mann K-8 School that provides engaging, high-impact arts education programming on-site at West End House during the school days to more than 300 students. Through this partnership, Jackson Mann students gain access to meaningful arts education opportunities that are otherwise not provided during the school day, including performing arts, dance, music, and visual arts opportunities. Arts classes are led by West End House staff, as well as through partnerships with the Eliot School, Boston Ballet, and Young Audiences.

As a key element of Extended Learning Time, West End House serves Jackson Mann students who are part of the school’s inclusion program, which serves youth who are on the autism spectrum as well as young people who are normally developing. This unique classroom structure ensures that young people of all abilities have the opportunity to develop critical social-emotional skills such communication, listening, and teamwork, through an artistic lens.

West End House is one of the city’s premier destinations for arts education, and for the majority of our young people, we are the only accessible resource for Boston youth to engage in the arts.