HSE Kindergarten students experience the arts through community partnership

Submitted by HSE Schools

Hamilton Southeastern Schools is bringing a new guaranteed student experience to approximately 1,100 Kindergarten students across the district’s 13 elementary schools, introducing HSE’s youngest learners to the arts through hands-on exploration and community partnerships.

The program, called The Arts, a Kindergarten Experience, was piloted last spring and is now being fully implemented. The initiative is a partnership between Hamilton Southeastern Schools, the Fishers Arts Center, a division of the Indianapolis Arts Center, and the Hamilton East Public Library.

As part of the experience, every HSE Kindergarten student will visit the Fishers Art Center and the Hamilton East Public Library during the school year. Students will explore watercolor painting, clay sculpture, and movement through drumming, while also discovering how storytelling and literacy connect to the arts.

The program aligns with the Indiana Academic Standards for Visual Arts, Dance, Music, and English/Language Arts, ensuring the experience supports classroom learning while expanding students’ exposure to creative opportunities in the community.

“This experience reflects our belief that learning should be engaging, creative, and connected to the world beyond the classroom,” HSE Schools Superintendent Dr. Matt Kegley said. “Thanks to our partnerships with the Fishers Arts Center and Hamilton East Public Library, our kindergarten students can explore the arts in meaningful ways.

To ensure the program was developmentally appropriate and engaging for young learners, HSE Schools convened a planning committee that included kindergarten teachers, art, music, and physical education teachers, building principals, and leadership from both the Fishers Arts Center and Hamilton East Public Library.

The committee worked collaboratively to design an experience that blends visual art, movement, and literacy, while also highlighting community arts resources available to families in Fishers.

“We are incredibly proud to partner with Hamilton Southeastern Schools on the HSE Kindergarten Experience and to welcome young learners into the Fishers Art Center at such an important point in their development,” said Michelle O’Hollaren, Executive Vice President of Education and Innovation, Indianapolis Art Center/Fishers Art Center. “For many students, this may be their first experience visiting an art center and creating in a professional arts environment. By giving every HSE kindergartener the opportunity to explore, make, and experience art firsthand, we are helping build creativity, confidence, and curiosity that can extend far beyond the art studio. We are grateful to HSE Schools for recognizing the value of the arts as an essential part of a child’s education.”

Melissa Loiselle, Hamilton East Public Library Director, said this program fits well with the library’s mission to serve the community at large.

“Working alongside the City of Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern Schools to provide an art-inspired field trip experience for local Kindergarten students is very much in line with the library’s mission to serve as our community’s essential connector to information and ideas,” she said. “The Ignite Studio is an incredible makerspace at our Fishers Library that we are excited to share with our community’s youngest innovators! It is a privilege to work on this initiative alongside our key partners at the City and HSE Schools.”

The Arts, a Kindergarten Experience is HSE Schools’ sixth guaranteed student experience, part of the district’s expanding collection of opportunities designed to ensure every student participates in meaningful, hands-on learning opportunities throughout their educational journey.