Education for the Arts (EFA)

Education for the Arts is a program arm of Kalamazoo RESA. EFA’s roots are based on a unanimous desire of the nine public school districts in Kalamazoo County to make arts education a learning and teaching priority. EFA’s mandate is to enhance arts education opportunities and programs for every Kalamazoo County school through developing, maintaining and strengthening partnerships between school districts, schools, teachers and the rich array of professional arts institutions in Southwest Michigan.

Education for the Arts has two major program areas:

Excellence in the Arts

EFA offers arts-intensive classes in the disciplines of theater, musical theater, music, dance, visual arts, digital arts and film/video arts. Excellence in the Arts classes are open to all Kalamazoo County high school students.

Classes are taught by a collaborative team of teachers and professional working artists.

Students receive instruction, mentoring and hands-on experience in authentic, artistic environments.

Arts for All

EFA provides public K-12 schools with a diversity of free arts education enhancement programs, including:

any text here Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency

Excellence in the Arts

EFA offers arts-intensive classes in the disciplines of Theatre, Musical Theatre, Music, 2-D and 3-D Visual Arts, Dance, Literary Arts and Media Arts (digital video and photography, computer and web-based art).

Classes are taught by a collaborative team of teachers and working artists. Students receive instruction, mentoring, and hands-on experience in authentic artistic environments. For example, the visual arts classes meet at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts.

EFA classes typically meet during the school day for 90 minutes, five days a week for the entire school year. Selected classes also are available through after school, evening and weekend offerings.

Excellence in the Arts is open to all Kalamazoo County high school students.

Download the EFA high school classes booklet:

EFA Classes booklet Spanish Arabic

The application window for the 2025-26 school year is now closed. Applications for the 2026-27 school year will be accepted starting December 1.