The CUSA Difference

Chester is a small city of eight square miles with only 37,000 residents and a school-age population of just 7,000 children.  CUSA is already demonstrating significant results and this unique partnership is inspiring the renewal of the Chester school system.  The opportunity is enormous for having a deep and lasting impact on Chester’s deserving children.

The Chester Upland School of the Arts is recognized for:

• Success in reaching under served students who too often fall through the cracks
• Its rigorous arts and academic curriculum that is comparable to a private-school education
• Small classes of 20 students
• Teaching assistants who provide support across grade levels
• A student:teacher ratio of 10:1, when an assistant is present, while the ratio in other district elementary schools is as high as 30:1
• Core classes in music, dance and visual arts (CUSA offers the only full-time dance teacher in the district).
• Computer-literacy program that includes regular computer-lab classes plus computer-assisted instruction in all classrooms (staffed by the only full-time technology teacher in a district elementary school)
• Extended-Day Program for 2nd grade and beyond offering additional, customized scholastic and arts learning
• Nationally recruited, dedicated and talented faculty; extraordinarily experienced school-leadership team