Arts access helps drive academic gains at South Dade K-8 school

A new Arts Access Miami case study says sustained arts education helped support stronger student engagement, school climate and academic momentum at Leisure City K-8 Center in Homestead. The findings cover the 2018-19 through 2024-25 school years and show gains in test scores, promotion rates and student enthusiasm for attending school.

Why it matters: - Leisure City K-8 Center offers a concrete example of how arts education can support broader school turnaround efforts at a Title I public school. - The case study argues that arts access helped create conditions for better attendance, stronger engagement and improved academic performance. - The report is meant to show how coordinated arts partnerships can support public schools across Miami-Dade County.

What happened: - Arts Access Miami released a case study on Leisure City K-8 Center in Homestead, a South Dade Title I school. - The case study tracks the school’s progress from the 2018-19 through 2024-25 school years. - Leisure City K-8 expanded from a STEM school into a STEAM campus. - Principal Walter C. Hall took over in 2019 and began restructuring schedules and building partnerships to expand opportunities beyond core academics. - Arts Access Miami helped bring arts instruction, instructors, instruments and performance opportunities to campus in 2022 through Young Musicians Unite, Guitars Over Guns, Vocal Youth Miami and Save The Music. - The school launched Florida’s first and only mariachi magnet program in 2025.

The details: - The case study does not claim arts education alone caused the school’s academic gains. - The report links progress to arts programming, school leadership, district support, family trust and a unified schoolwide vision. - Researchers drew on interviews with school leaders, Miami-Dade County Public Schools regional leaders, Florida TaxWatch and a parent. - The analysis also used school grades, attendance records, behavior data, School Climate Survey results and Florida Assessment of Student Thinking math and English language arts scores. - By 2024-25, seventh graders ranked in the 94th percentile statewide for math learning gains among Florida Title I noncharter schools. - Sixth graders ranked in the 93rd percentile for English language arts learning gains among the same peer group. - Third-grade promotion rose from 86.8% in 2018-19 to 100% in 2024-25. - English language arts proficiency increased from 39.5% in 2022-23 to 49.1% in 2024-25, outpacing Miami-Dade County’s rate of improvement. - Math proficiency rose from 48% in 2022-23 to 54.6% in 2024-25. - Students in the lowest-performing 25% beat county averages for learning gains in both English language arts and math. - On the Miami-Dade County Public Schools School Climate Survey, the share of students who said they liked attending Leisure City K-8 increased from 48% in 2023-24 to 100% in 2024-25. - Sammy Gonzalez Zeira, CEO of Young Musicians Unite and president of Arts Access Miami, said the arts gave students a reason to show up, a way to belong and a chance to see themselves as part of something bigger.

Between the lines: - The case study presents arts education as a schoolwide strategy, not an add-on program. - The strongest shift appears to be cultural as much as academic, with student belonging and school climate improving alongside test scores. - The mariachi magnet program suggests Leisure City K-8 is trying to build on the arts momentum with a more distinctive identity. - Arts Access Miami is using the school as proof of concept for a wider countywide model.

What's next: - Arts Access Miami will work with 31 partner organizations during the 2026-27 school year. - The network will operate across more than 88 schools and community sites. - The initiative expects to serve more than 17,000 students annually. - Since launch, Arts Access Miami says it has reached more than 40,000 students. - The full case study is available here. - Photos, interviews and additional background are available upon request.

The bottom line: - The Leisure City K-8 case study argues that arts access can help power school improvement when it is built into the core plan, not layered on top of it.