CITY HEARTS KIDS SAY YES TO THE ARTS L A FRINGE THEATRE INC
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Seemingly now more than ever, the students we serve are in dire need of holistic and compassionate opportunities that help address their creative, academic, and mental health needs. By infusing the Arts more comprehensively into Title I schools we help fill the achievement gap by contributing to an inclusive and equitable educational landscape. High-impact Arts instruction that goes beyond the Artistic to address students’ holistic needs encourages school retention, advances social-emotional learning, accelerates cross-disciplinary learning, and promotes diversity and representation that reflects the students' lived experiences.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Visual Arts for Early Learners (PK-3rd)
Providing an inclusive space for early learners to explore their curiosity and temptation to mix, smash, smear, and glue a colorful bounty of artmaking materials, young artists discover the fundamentals of creative expression through making art.
Printmaking: Textiles, Screen Printing, and Reproduction (6th-12th)
Through conceptualization, sketching, block carving, stencil making, and silk screening, students examine the inherent creativity of commercial artwork and their producers while creating and replicating their own prints and textiles, culminating in a mock redesign of their school logo.
Exploring Photography: Experiments in Light (3rd-8th)
Exploring portraiture, photojournalism, and "light painting," students compose, shoot, and develop film and their unique "eye" as they capture the world around them. Students examine the relationship between photographer and subject and explore the work of a diverse group of professional photographers to broaden their perspective
Drawing and Creative Visual Art (4th-8th)
Exploring the basics of drawing and illustration, students conceptualize and compose 2-D and 3-D art. Guided by design thinking and critical analysis skills, students hone their imaginations, feelings, and boundless creativity into unique pieces of displayable art.
Visual Storytelling with Digital Services (9th - 12th)
Utilizing accessible mobile technology, students write, film, perform, and edit visual narratives to express and amplify their creative voice. By developing skills in videography, students build the confidence to tell their stories through scene-setting and dialogue that engage and impact their communities.
Performing Arts for Early Learners (PK-3rd)
Introducing children to the performing arts, students use their bodies, voices, minds and fine motor skills, and imaginations to collaborate on a one-act performance entitled "I Dream," which speaks to their inner visions and aspirations for the future.
Exploring Jazz Music and Dance (3rd-8th)
Delving into the rich history of African music and dance and its influence on America, students explore physical and creative movement, improvisation, and choreography to increase body and cultural awareness, connection, and acceptance with themselves.
Hip Hop and Modern Dance (3rd-8th)
Building on the fundamentals of modern dance, students embody creative freedom and movement while learning the history of Hip Hop and its contemporary performers to artistically express themselves through rhythm and coordinated dance routines.
Music Creators: Guitar and Songwriting (3rd-8th)
Designed for beginner music makers, students learn the mechanics of the guitar and how to play fundamental chords, use poetry and spoken word to create original songs, and employ math to keep rhythm and harmonize as an ensemble through various music styles.
Communication Through Theater Arts (9th-12th)
Expressive and trauma-informed theater techniques invite students to participate in role-play, storytelling, poetry, movement, metaphors play, and performance. This safe play space foster creative, authentic, and brave communication and social emotional wellness.
Poetry and Spoken Word: Language as Art (6th-12th)
Focusing on personal connections to words and meanings, students expand and deepen their understanding and appreciation of the language we use daily to craft original poetry. Getting out of their heads and into their bodies, students perform and celebrate their voices in front of an audience.
Musical Theater (4th-8th)
Learning the story elements of staged drama, students work in unison to playact and fill larger-than-life roles through singing, dancing, and acting. Students investigate questions of identity and belief through developing a collaborative performance.
Where we work
Awards
Coming Up Taller Award 1996
President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities
Prevention for a Safer Society (PASS) Award 1996
National Council on Crime and Delinquency
Sunny Days Award 1998
Sesame Street Parents Magazine & Children's Television Network
Agency Service Award: for educational & cultural enrichment impact 2011
Venice Neighborhood Youth Association
Certificate of Recognition 1995
County of Los Angeles, Board of Supervisors
Caring Award to founder Bob & Sherry Jason 2017
The Caring Institute
External reviews
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of administrators and staff who plan and experience professional development activities together
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Ethnic and racial groups, Economically disadvantaged people
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Social Emotion Learning half-day retreat for all City Hearts admin and Teaching Artist staff in advance of the 2022-23 school year.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Our organizational goals include:
1. Expand services to additional sites
2. Develop new programs that relate to current relevant needs
3. Diversify funding (Corporate, Foundation, Government, Individual)
4. Upgrade student and program evaluation systems
5. Strengthen community outreach & networking
6. Develop and diversify Board
7. Professional development for staff & faculty
8. Solidify organizational infrastructure
9. Fortify technology and communications systems
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
According to the most recent data available from the “Los Angeles County Arts Education Profile,” a comprehensive report on Arts Education in public schools, although Art is taught across LA County, very few schools actually provide high-quality instruction based on California-accepted standards nor do they provide year-long Arts instruction. The report’s data says that “students from low-income communities, English Learners and students of color have [even] less access to arts education, and the arts instruction they are offered is of lower quality.”
To combat education gaps like these, City Hearts provides monthly one-on-one check-ins with Teaching Artists to discuss, troubleshoot, and reflect on time spent in the classrooms and facilitates quarterly Professional Development Days for all staff. During the 2022-23 school year, City Hearts invited its very own Communications Through Theatre Arts Teaching Artist Pam Modeste, a certified drama therapist, to present CASEL’s SEL Framework on implementing the five fundamentals of effective social-emotional learning into the classroom. Additionally, Dr. Prager, Long Beach Unified Program Specialist for Expanded Learning Opportunities, led a 2-hour interactive Transformative SEL presentation in advance of the 2023-24 school year, and will continue to provide Professional Development for our organization.
City Hearts hires working Artists with extensive portfolios and local knowledge who are also skilled and caring youth development practitioners. Over 70% of City Hearts staff grew up in or around the communities we serve, allowing for Arts Education experiences that resonate with the students' cultural backgrounds. This creates an environment where students see themselves reflected in their instructors and the curriculum and where Artists feel like they can give back to their communities.
City Hearts is also led by an Executive Director of Color who manages a staff of nearly 100% people of color. While City Hearts Teaching Artists all have extensive portfolios and experience in their respective fields, many of our administrative staff are also Artists or practice an Artistic craft, which further contributes to our mission.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
City Hearts has a dedicated team of non-profit professionals to spearhead these initiatives and ensure their continued development.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Each school year, we collect student and administrator surveys on the program’s effectiveness, including how much participants enjoyed being involved and what recommendations they have for improvements. The 2022-23 school year feedback reported exceptional reviews, including:
School-Site Administrators
100% say they want City Hearts classes back at their school site next year and that City Hearts provided transferable skills that positively impacted the students academic success
96% said City Hearts helped students improve their critical thinking skills
Students
Across all grades 73% of students reported that on days with City Hearts classes they are more excited to go to school improving attendance records.
Elementary School
90% of the students said that they had fun in their class and 4 out of 5 students said that they want to be in a City Hearts class again next year showing that exposure to the Arts through school day curriculum encourages exploring outside comfort zones and trying new things.
Middle School
We saw a 71% increase in students saying that they turn to creating or performing Art when they feel sad or angry as well as a 125% increase in students reporting that their friends and family tell them they are talented Artists meaning that they are open and willing to share their work with others.
High School
4 out of 5 City Hearts students believe that being an Artist is a viable career option thanks to the support and role modeling from their dedicated Teaching Artists.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time, It is hard to come up with good questions to ask people
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
CITY HEARTS KIDS SAY YES TO THE ARTS L A FRINGE THEATRE INC
Board of directorsas of 09/11/2023
Ed O'Neill
Ed O'Neill, Drilling & Construction Co.
Term: 2020 - 2025
Bob Jason
Los Angeles County Public Defender
Sherry Jason
Los Angeles County Public Defender
Ed O'Neill
Ed O'Neill, Drilling & Construction Co.
Tracey Rinaldi
Capital Group Companies, Inc.
Joe Grassi
Grassi & Associates, Management Consultants
Dan Faltz
UCLArts & Healing
Andy Lomeli
Public Policy
Aakash Ranavat
PlayVS
Lilit Hovhannisyan
US Bank
Terry Scott
Radical Imagining: Great Streets Leimert
Dervla McDonnell
College Track
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Not applicable -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Not applicable -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 11/12/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.