The Jessye Norman School of the Arts has been awarded the 2021 Georgia ASYD Excellence Award for Afterschool Programming from the Georgia Afterschool & Youth Development Initiative. The announcement was made during the virtual 2021 Georgia ASYD Conference held on September 14th-16th.

The Excellence Award is given to Georgia organizations demonstrating “outstanding afterschool or youth development program that meets the highest standards of quality in the field and demonstrates capacity to meet the needs of children, youth and families in their community.”

The Jessye Norman School of the Arts offers year-round, free arts education to students throughout the CSRA, ranging from 4th-12th grade. The school predominantly serves students from low to moderate income backgrounds, and every student gets to choose their own path of study from one of five disciplines: Dance, Drama, Music, Visual Arts, and Digital Arts.

“The school is honored by this award, which recognizes JNSA as one of Georgia’s preeminent after school programs,” says Executive Director Gary Dennis. “The school is named after Ms. Jessye Norman, an Augusta native who came from meager beginnings and who went on to become one of the greatest opera singers of all time. We strive to honor Ms. Norman’s legacy by providing extraordinary arts experiences to students of every background, and by helping our students to become accomplished, caring, and responsible citizens of this world.”

Past Georgia Afterschool & Youth Development Award Winners include the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta and the Next Level Community Development Center of Macon, Georgia. In the past, the Jessye Norman School of the Arts has won the 2019 Governor’s Award for the Arts and Humanities, the Greater Augusta Arts Council’s Kath Girdler Engler Award for Public Art, and a National Edward R. Murrow Award.

The program is completely free for all students, and each student receives free academic assistance, free literacy assistance, and free meals. Prospective students are invited to apply throughout the year at www.jessyenormanschool.org.