Leisure City K-8 Finds New Rhythm as Arts Programs Expand

At Leisure City K-8 Center, school leaders say expanding access to the arts also helped the South Dade school find one of its own.

A new case study from Arts Access Miami documents six years of change at the Title I school, where expanded arts education was combined with academic planning, family outreach and a broader effort to improve student engagement.

The study, “A Diamond in the Rough: How a Vision for Arts Education Transformed Leisure City K-8 Center,” examines the period from the 2018-19 school year through 2024-25.

During that time, Leisure City expanded its focus from science, technology, engineering and mathematics to STEAM, which incorporates the arts.

The study does not claim that arts education alone caused the school’s academic progress.

Instead, it describes the arts as one part of a larger strategy involving school leadership, district support, family trust and community partnerships.

Because the analysis ends with the 2024-25 school year, it does not assess the school’s results for 2025-26.

The case study found that Leisure City reached the 94th percentile for seventh-grade mathematics learning gains and the 93rd percentile for sixth-grade English language arts learning gains among Florida’s Title I non-charter schools in 2024-25.

Third-grade promotion increased from 86.8% in 2018-19 to 100% in 2024-25, according to the report.

English language arts proficiency rose from 39.5% in 2022-23 to 49.1% in 2024-25, while mathematics proficiency increased from 48% to 54.6% during the same period.

The school also exceeded Miami-Dade County averages for learning gains among students in the lowest-performing 25% in both subjects.

The changes were not limited to test results.

The percentage of students who said they liked attending Leisure City increased from 48% in 2023-24 to 100% in 2024-25, according to school climate survey data included in the study.

Principal Walter C. Hall arrived at Leisure City in 2019, when the school offered limited electives and did not have a middle-school music program.

The school later changed its schedule and brought in outside organizations to provide instructors, instruments and performance opportunities.

Arts Access Miami became involved in 2022. Participating organizations have included Young Musicians Unite, Guitars Over Guns, Vocal Youth Miami and Save The Music.

“Arts Access Miami gave us the instructional tools we needed, from instruments to teachers,” Hall said in the case study.

“We saw suspensions and office referrals decline, and students started buying into the larger vision of the school. They wanted to come to school, participate and be part of something.”

The study was developed through interviews with school and district leaders, a parent and representatives from Florida TaxWatch. Researchers also reviewed school grades, attendance and behavior records, climate surveys, Florida Assessment of Student Thinking results and other school documents.

Hall was named the 2024-25 Miami-Dade County Public Schools Principal of the Year by the Dade Association of School Administrators.

During the same school year, Florida TaxWatch identified Leisure City as one of 15 successful high-risk public schools in the state.

The school continued expanding its arts offerings in 2025 with the launch of a mariachi magnet program. The case study describes it as the first program of its kind in Florida, centered on the traditional combination of string instruments, brass and vocals.

For Arts Access Miami President Sammy Gonzalez Zeira, who also serves as CEO of Young Musicians Unite, the school’s experience demonstrates what can happen when the arts become part of a school’s larger mission.

“Leisure City K-8 shows what becomes possible when arts education is treated as part of the core school strategy, not as an extra,” Gonzalez Zeira said.

“The arts gave students more than a class. They gave students a reason to show up, a way to belong and a chance to see themselves as part of something bigger. That kind of connection can change the culture of a school.”