From Reflection to Action: CAPP Cohort Begins Year Two
August 14, 2026
Erika Nesvig, Sarah Christian-Garceau, Laura Grimm, Morgan Losure, and Mariah Dant of Waconia analyze the Brainerd strategic arts plan and give feedback.
Earlier this week, the Comprehensive Arts Planning Program (CAPP) started its second year of programming for the 2025-2027 cohort. Every two years, school districts and charter schools are eligible to apply to this state-funded program in one or more arts areas. The 2025-2027 cohort (Academias La Paz, Alexandria Public Schools, Big Lake Schools, Brainerd Public Schools, International Spanish Language Academy, Inver Grove Heights Schools, Kasson-Mantorville Schools, Little Falls Community Schools, and Waconia Public Schools) gathered on Wednesday, August 12th to reflect on their district’s long-range arts plans and craft their implementation strategies for this school year.
During the morning session, CAPP sites worked on a reflective analysis of their current arts plans. Beyond internal district reflection, cohort participants also conducted cross-district reviews to exchange feedback and analyze arts plans from other districts. “I greatly appreciated looking at another district’s CAPP plan (Little Falls) and seeing how similar they are,” said Anthony Boldt, music educator at Kasson-Mantorville.
Additionally, arts teams collaborated to examine overarching competencies that could define a graduating arts student, leading to a shared vision that aligns with their arts programming, lifelong student success, and district goals.
Josh Hall, Anthony Boldt, and Jessica Marquadt talk through Kasson-Mantorville’s strategic arts plan with the Little Falls arts team of Karen Warner and Sara Underhill.
At the end of the day, CAPP co-chairs shared their insights from the day. “It felt really good to see how much our arts team has grown through this process!” said Adriana Maldonado, exploration/arts specialist at International Spanish Language Academy.
“Hearing from other groups led to new ideas that we wanted to incorporate into our own work,” said Laura Grimm, media specialist at Waconia Public Schools.
“Seeing ideas from other groups that align with what we are trying to implement was a great ‘a-ha’,” said Erick Juarez, music educator at Academia In Lak’ech.
Applications for the 2027-2029 cohort will be available in December, 2026. Information sessions will start in November, 2026.
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