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About Our School

School Hours

School Day is 8:10am-3:35pm
First Bell 8:00
School Day Begins 8:10
Attendance Bell 10:00
Dismiss 3:35
Kinder & 1st  3:25
3rd, 4th & 5th 3:35 

At the Whitt Fine Arts Academy, students are challenged daily with expectations to be active academic problem-solvers so they can be productive members of the twenty-first century. Students are provided with a safe, nurturing and engaging learning environment where they become creative inquirers and communicators. Through collaboration with parents and community partnerships, we leverage available resources to offer students engaging learning experiences that promote college readiness standards. Student work focuses on application of these concepts which results in the creation of meaningful, rigorous and relevant learning experiences. Furthermore, our staff ensures that the school environment is a place where children feel safe and secure. We work diligently to provide positive relationships to forge strong bonds between parents, students and staff.

Mission Statement

The mission of Whitt Fine Arts Academy is to open the eyes of our Kinder-5th grade students to the Radio/TV/Film fine arts strand by channeling their unique skills and talents through an integrated academic and arts program which focuses on a whole-person developmental approach to learning in unison with high academic and artistic standards.

History

Mr. Whitt, for whom the school is named, was a longtime educator and school administrator in the Grand Prairie Independent School District. Ervin C. Whitt Elementary School opened in the fall of 2001 under the leadership of Dale Brown Jones.

Then, In the Fall of 2003, Ms. Jones passed the leadership to Ms. Crumley. After taking the lead, Ms. Crumley established a climate and strong tradition of student excellence. In the fall of 2010, Leadership of the school was passed to April Shaw. Today, Ms. Shaw  is a visionary leader empowering staff to take students to the next level while cultivating an intentional culture that is based on relationships and accountability.

Her instructional vision is, that educators  do whatever it takes to ensure that every child is successful and engaged in their educational career.  “Whitt is a school where classes are highly engaged, and when they are not, teachers make every possible effort to redesign the pattern of activity in the classroom so that more students are engaged.” Highly engaged students persist in the work even through challenges to get to the level of profound learning. With this in mind, Whitt aims to engage our digital learners to be problem solvers and life-long learners. As such, Whitt students experience 21st century learning based on best teaching practices and through instructional delivery utilizing iPods, Interactive Whiteboards, Time 2 Know and other instructional technologies. Students also have the opportunity to become leaders through student council or participate in numerous after school clubs for Spanish, computer, art and others.

In the fall of 2009 Whitt earned the title of a TEA Exemplary campus. Additionally, Whitt also opened, GPISD’s first daycare, licensed by Grand Prairie and the State of Texas for GPISD staff members’ children.