IGNITE Spring 2019 | Page 10

Doubling Down on Arts... the ...for 25 years It shouldn’t surprise any teacher that band classes at Roman Catholic High School were once taught in the not-so- modern attic of its primary building — constructed in 1890. Or that lessons in the visual arts were relegated to a converted garage nearby. 10 But what might signal a flagging arts program at other schools was only a temporary holdover at Roman Catholic. Here, a partnership with the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) and a new 40,000 sq. ft. arts facility are giving students new room to hone their skills and apply them in ways that foster community involvement and professional success.