In the St. Tammany Parish Public School System students have the opportunity to go beyond their core classes and explore a multitude of arts offerings. Whether through visual arts or performing arts, our students are engaged and excited to learn!  

First Lady Donna Edwards visited STPPS in November and met students who are receiving music and movement education. She learned that these students perform for school, community, regional and national audiences through classroom music, choral music, band, theater, and dance. They often appear at local nursing homes, regional and state honor choir and band competitions, Mardi Gras parades, and they perform on the national stage at the Poetry Out Loud competition, Shakespeare festivals, Disney parades, and the Washington, D.C. National Memorial Day Celebration.

STPPS theater and drama classes perform full scale productions multiple times a year. Dance programs include formal classes teaching ballet, jazz, modern, and other types of dance. Students also have the opportunity to learn strings instruments, violin, viola, cello, and guitar.   

Visual arts, fine arts, and talented arts students receive a discipline based arts education and opportunities to participate in events including the Wildfowl Festival Arts contest, Three Rivers Art Festival, Camilla Art Contest, and the Louisiana School Board Association Art Contest.   

Our community partnership with Dew Drop JazzKids brings artists into schools to share music genres through Master Classes from Grammy Award winning musicians including Chris Thomas King, Jason Marsalis, and Donn Vappie’s Creole Jazz Quartet.  

I’m proud to say that our students often earn local and national scholarships, continuing their education with learning to last a lifetime. These awards are a testament to the quality of STPPS fine arts programs. I’m grateful that our School Board and St. Tammany Parish community continue to value educating the whole child.