S.W.A.P.
The History of the Program
The Start With Arts Program (S.W.A.P.) began as a pilot program in two elementary schools in Pawtucket, Rhode Island,in 1991. In the first year of the program 2 first grades in two schools ( 4 classes ) received the approach. These students continued to receive the S.W.A.P. program until they graduated from fifth grade and left for the junior high school. Along with the S.W.A.P. students, control classes in the same grade and schools were available for comparison. After 2 years of S.W.A.P. the students in both the S.W.A.P. classes and in the control classes were given the Metropolitan Achievement Tests. Results were analyzed and results wre signnificant. Children in the pilot program did much better in the areas of math problem solving and math concepts. The results of this evaluation were published in the May 23, 1996 (volume 361) edition of the British journal, NATURE. While the teachers involved in this program had seen benefits for participating students and gains in learning, the article in NATURE gave definite proof that a carefully integrated program, emphasizing, not only thematic integration but integration, by skill, partnered with a sequential approach to learning, provided the S.W.A.P. students with opportunities to make significant gains in both the arts and the academic subjects!
After 5 years in a pilot stage, the S.W.A.P. program moved to a full school wide model in September,1996. The S.W.A.P. teachers wrote a grant to a private foundation and with financial help from the Pawtucket School, enough money was raised to establish a permanent location at the Curvin McCabe Elementary School. Over the last three years, the S.W.A.P. approach has expanded to Grades K-4. During the 1999-2000 school year, the program will expand to Grade 5.