Under the leadership of Professor Paul Sproll, head of RISD’s Department of Art + Design Education and director of the Center for the Advancement of Art + Design Education, RISD is developing an innovative relationship with Hope Arts High School, a public school about a mile from the RISD campus. Hope Arts is one of three small learning communities within the new Hope High School Complex, conceived in 2002 to replace the long-troubled Hope High School following intervention by the State Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education. The new entity also includes schools dedicated to Information Technology and Leadership.

The educational partnership between RISD and Hope was formally established in fall 2003 with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, which set out clear expectations for the college and the high school. In February 2006 RISD renewed its commitment through 2010, and was joined by the local institutions Rhode Island College, Johnson & Wales University, Roger Williams University and Brown University in what Providence Schools Superintendent Donnie W. Evans described as a “network of partnerships” with Hope High School.

A key feature of RISD’s alliance with Hope is the provision of up to two 4-year undergraduate scholarships to Hope Arts seniors who are accepted to RISD through the normal admissions process and who have financial need. Two such scholarships have been awarded so far, and it is anticipated that this number will increase as the high school strengthens its visual arts program. Dr. Sproll describes the RISD scholarships as “nothing less than transformative in the lives of the Hope student recipients.”

For Hope, the pact provides a wealth of additional resources, including studios for students and strategic planning and curriculum advice from RISD faculty. For RISD, and especially the Department of Art + Design Education, the partnership offers faculty a chance to be key decision-making participants at Hope Arts. Additionally, notes Sproll, the relationship provides graduate students with “an extraordinary opportunity to be involved in an urban public high school committed to renewal and to placing the visual and performing arts at the core of students’ learning experience.”

For Sproll, who has immersed himself in the life of Hope Arts during his sabbatical leave from RISD, the experience has led him to re-conceptualize the design of his own department’s Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program. As a result of the partnership, he has begun to envision a paradigm shift towards teacher preparation that “situates a great deal more of our MAT students’ field-based experience in a variety of aspects of school life, including after-school programming,” while it simultaneously supports the professional development of Hope Arts’ teachers. In this model, Sproll sees RISD as a “fully engaged partner in high school reform in the city of Providence.”