ALMA is Spanish for “soul” and the acronym for Avanzando lectura y matemáticas a través del arte (Advancing Reading and Math through the Arts).

ALMA is a partnership between the Bruce-Guadalupe Community School, a K3-8th Grade charter school operated by the United Community Center, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Latino Arts, Inc.

The aim of this project is to increase student achievement in literacy and math through the integration of culturally relevant, standards based visual art experiences into reading, language arts and math instruction.

ALMA was funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Development and Dissemination Grant Program, CFDA #84.351D, awarded from 9/1/2010-8/31/2014. The total grant award was $610,766 which represented 67% of the total cost of the project. Non-governmental resources comprised $293,184 and 33% of total project costs. 

Additional research and dissemination support was provided through UW-Milwaukee's Peck School of the Arts and Office of Undergraduate Research.