Maryland Centers for Creative Classrooms (MC3) provides high quality professional learning designed to support arts educators across the state in developing skills, knowledge, and dispositions needed to lead high quality arts instruction for Maryland’s PK-12 students. MC3 equips educators to expertly deliver instruction outlined in COMAR 13A.04.16.01 while building community across the state.

Participants develop skills, knowledge, and dispositions needed to lead high quality arts instruction for Maryland’s PK-12 students. MC3 equips educators to expertly deliver instruction outlined in COMAR 13A.04.16.01 while building community across the state.

⭐ 15+ Professional Development Points Credit(s) available upon successful completion

For questions about course offerings, please contact Kayla Morgan, MC3 Program Coach, at kayla.morgan@mc3arts.org.

Apply by September 11, 2026 at 5:00 pm

Think Like an Administrator: Essentials for Arts Educators is a five-session professional learning course introduces participants to foundational concepts included in Maryland's Administrator I certification through the unique lens of arts education. Designed for visual art, music, dance, theatre, and media arts educators with an active teacher license, the course explores curriculum, instruction, assessment, supervision, school operations, culturally responsive leadership, legal and ethical decision-making, and effective communication with school leaders.

The course consists of five live virtual sessions, each lasting two hours, complemented by a required Leadership Observation Experience between the third and fourt sessoins. Whether participants aspire to pursue Administrator I certification or simply become stronger teacher leaders and advocates within their schools, this course will equip them with practical tools, meaningful professional connections, and a leadership mindset that strengthens arts education for all students.

This course is limited to 30 participants.

OBJECTIVES:

Gain a deeper understanding of how administrators:
- make decisions,
- establish school priorities, and
- support teaching
Develop practical strategies to advocate for high-quality arts programs.
A required Leadership Observation Experience to:
- observe educational leadership in action
- reflect on how administrative perspectives can strengthen your practice
- (note there is no live session for this week)

Participants will also have access to:

Up to two hours of optional office hours/individual support
Supplemental readings
Reflection activities
Guided leadership observation and reflection

COURSE SCHEDULE

Thursday, September 24, 2026 | 5:00–7:00 p.m.
Thursday, October 1, 2026 | 5:00–7:00 p.m.
Thursday, October 8, 2026 | 5:00–7:00 p.m.
Week of October 12–16, 2026 | Required Leadership Observation Experience (No Live Session)
Thursday, October 22, 2026 | 5:00–7:00 p.m.
Thursday, October 29, 2026 | 5:00–7:00 p.m.

Administrator I Information Session
Tuesday, November 3, 2026 | 5:00–6:00 p.m.
Optional and open to all interested Maryland arts educators

APPLY NOW

Application Deadline

September 15, 2026 at 5:00 pm

Building Artistic Communities that Support LGBTQ+ Students, Staff, and Families is a professional development course designed to help participants develop an understanding of the importance of adult allies to LGBTQ+ students and explore specific ways to educate, advocate, and support LGBTQ+ students, staff, and families.

The asynchronous course runs from October 1 - November 23, 2026. Participants may complete course materials at their own pace and schedule throughout the course period. This course is limited to 15 participants. Submitting an application does not guarantee acceptance to the course.

OBJECTIVES:

Explore strategies for promoting safe, affirming learning environments for all students.
Synthesize and apply what was have learned through a final Arts Integrated Project showcasing best practices for supporting LGBTQ+ individuals in educational settings.

APPLY NOW

Arts Education Through a Trauma-Informed Lens 2026-27 Social Media (1).png

Apply by September 30, 2026 at 5:00 pm

Applications are now open for Arts Education Through a Trauma-Informed Lens, a professional development opportunity from the Maryland Centers for Creative Classrooms

OBJECTIVES:

Explore how trauma connects to brain theory
Learn how educators can use arts-based approaches to help students feel safe, engaged, and ready to learn
Connect key trauma-informed principles to practical strategies for classroom structure, curriculum design, and facilitation
Use reflective writing, sample tools, and small-group discussions to support participants in applying these theories directly to their teaching practice

This course is limited to 25 participants. Submitting an application does not guarantee acceptance to the course.

Fall 2026 Course Dates

October 19, 2026, 4:00 - 7:00 pm

October 20, 2026, 4:00 - 7:00 pm

October 21, 2026, 4:00 - 7:00 pm

Spring 2027 Course Dates

March 8, 2027, 4:00 - 7:00 pm

March 9, 2027, 4:00 - 7:00 pm

March 10, 2027, 4:00 - 7:00 pm

APPLY NOW

About the Facilitator

Candy Alexandra González is a Little Havana and Philadelphia-based multidisciplinary visual artist, poet, and trauma-competent art educator Candy received their MFA in Book Arts + Printmaking from the University of the Arts in 2017. Since graduating, they have been a 40th Street Artist-in-Residence in West Philadelphia, a West Bay View Fellow at Dieu Donné in Brooklyn, NY, the 2021 Linda Lee Alter Fellow for the DaVinci Art Alliance and the 2024-2025 Leeway x Fleisher Artist in Residence. Their visual art and poetry practice is rooted in the liberation of fat, brown, immigrant, queer and trans people. Candy is currently an Art + Art Education doctoral student at Teachers College, Columbia University.

REGISTRATION CLOSED

Learning through The Creative Process MC3 LinkedIn Banner Templates (1).png

Learning through The Creative Process: Standards-Driven Creative Spaces is a foundational course that ensures that teaching artists are prepared for the PK-12 classroom setting, connecting their own creative practices to a common language about the Creative Process and exploring the connective tissue between the Creative Process and the Maryland State Fine Arts Standards. By investigating their own teaching and making methods, participants will gain a deeper understanding of their own artistic habits and patterns. This course explores the five arts disciplines of the Maryland State Fine Arts Standards: dance, media arts, music, theatre, and visual art.

The course is a synchronous, virtual experience involving creative making as well as discussion and presentation.

Successful completion of the course makes participants eligible to receive up to 15 Professional Development Points (PDPs).

Cohort Information
This course is limited to 25 participants. All interested applicants must submit an application by August 15, 2026 at 5:00 pm to be considered for participation.

Course Sessions
All sessions will take place on Tuesdays from 6:00 - 8:30 pm

September 15, 2026
September 22, 2026
September 29, 2026

ABOUT THE FACILITATOR

The Leadership Institute for Compassionate Changemaking (the Institute) offers facilitation services and interactive sessions to elevate leadership, organizations, workplaces, schools, and communities. Through its practice, the Institute embodies creative and collaborative processes through a human-centered exchange of ideas.

Based in Maryland and founded by Dana Parsons, who has decades of experience serving more than 1,500 organizations, the Institute offers a variety of interactive engagement opportunities for professional and personal development in small group, large group, one-on-one, and virtual settings.

The Institute's approach embodies inclusion by recognizing where power resides (systemically, hierarchically, from privilege) and intentionally supporting a power shift that centers the voice, agency, and impact of participants; particularly those from historically marginalized communities.

Learn More...