Amy Hogan, the Culinary Arts teacher at Boerne ISD, takes pride in her students’ progress. “It feels incredible to know that I’m giving them a skill that they can use right now,” Hogan said.

Houston ISD quickly took notice: By 2017, it created its first K-12 fine arts department, and the district added fine arts teachers to 37 campuses ahead of the 2019-20 school year.