White House Author

Dr. Kevin Maxwell has been Superintendent of Anne Arundel County Public Schools in Maryland since June 2006. Believing that arts integration programs provide all students, but particularly visual learners, with crucial opportunities to maximize their talents, Dr. Maxwell has worked closely with the Board of Education to create rigorous and relevant arts-oriented curriculum throughout Maryland’s fifth largest school system. Today, students can create a brighter future at two Performing and Visual Arts middle school magnet programs and experience arts integration curriculum at six elementary schools across the county. Soon, high school students will have facilities to pursue similar work. These are value-added programs that are rigorous and relevant and provide more public school choice for parents and students. In that same vein, Dr. Maxwell has led the charge for public school choice by establishing the county’s first two Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) magnet high schools and its first BioMedical Allied Health magnet high school, and expanding the International Baccalaureate program at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Dr. Maxwell’s efforts have earned him several awards, including the Arts Education in Maryland Schools Alliance’s 2010 Arts Advocate of the Year. Under his leadership, Anne Arundel County Public Schools has also partnered with AEMS in the creation of the week-long 21st Century Institute for Arts Education, which drew educators from Italy and the University of Southern Mississippi to collaborate on developing partnerships that will help more students. Anne Arundel County’s Board of Education also has been recognized for its work in arts integration, receiving AEMS’ 2011 School Board Recognition Award for outstanding support and commitment to high-quality arts education.