Since converting the William Shoemaker Middle School into a charter in 2006, the Mastery organization has converted this formerly violent and failing middle school into an academically-charged, highly successful 7-12 charter school. Attendance is above 95 percent, violence has declined by 90 percent, and last year 100 percent of graduates were accepted into institutions of higher learning.

Jennifer Borders is the art teacher at Albert Einstein Academy, a K–5 private Jewish day school near Wilmington, Delaware. She is at the center of a unique experiment at her school, a curriculum initiative called "Einstein Explores the Arts." Because of the unconventional and intriguing nature of this theme, we are focusing this month's Educator Profile on the combined efforts of the Academy's staff rather than the individual efforts of Jennifer. Throughout the school year, teachers integrate their core curriculum with the arts, exploring how the visual arts can make meaningful connections between disciplines.