INFORMATIONAL

 The Virginia Board of Education will host a one-day conference, The Fourth R: Arts 
and Learning in Virginia Schools, for superintendents, assistant superintendents, or 
key instructional leaders, on Thursday, May 25, 2000. This conference will be held 
the day before the Board of Education's regularly scheduled business meeting in 
which the proposed revised Standards of Learning for Dance Arts, Theatre Arts, 
Visual Arts, and Music will be presented for final review and approval. The purpose 
of this conference is to assist school divisions in implementing the revised 
Standards of Learning in the arts, to demonstrate effective partnerships between 
arts organizations and schools, and to communicate the value of arts education in 
the curricula. 

This conference, being planned by the Department of Education and the Virginia 
Commission for the Arts, will include a presentation by a nationally renowned arts 
researcher and educator, a panel discussion by superintendents on local arts 
education programs, and a showcase of student performers and student art work. The 
conference to be held at the Cultural Arts Center in Glen Allen, near Richmond, will 
start at 8 a.m. with registration and coffee and will end at 5 p.m. Lunch will be 
provided. Registration information and directions to the conference site are attached.

Registration for the conference is open through May 1, 2000, for one person per 
school division. If you would like to send more than one representative, a waiting 
list will be compiled and individuals placed on this list will be notified after May 
1, 2000, if space is available. While lodging costs are the responsibility of the 
participants, a block of rooms has been reserved through May 2, 2000, at the Comfort 
Suites Inn, Innsbrook. You may reserve a room at the rate of $70 per night, single or
double, by calling (804) 217-9200.

For further information, please contact Mrs. Cheryle Gardner, principal specialist 
for fine arts, cgardner@pen.k12.va.us, (804) 225-2881, or Dr. Theresa Lee, associate
specialist for fine arts/music, tlee@pen.k12.va.us, (804) 786-8078. 

JLD/TFL/pl

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