With No Child Left Behind (NCLB) declaring the Arts a core curriculum (Ed.Gov, 2004) it is increasingly important to recognize and understand the influence of the arts in the education system. Businesses are calling for better educational standards including a strong foundation in the creative arts which develop "imaginative, flexible and tough-minded thinking" (NCEE, 2007). Schools have responded by mandating teachers to include arts in their curriculum, yet there has been reluctance by educators to do so. It is likely that teaching professionals feel hindered by a lack of their own training and development in the arts, resulting in a lack of artistic confidence. OLAY, a private K-8 school in a mid-sized city in Southern California, has had a performing arts program (8 years), art trek program (4 years), band (10 years), and choir (8 years), each taught by an arts specialist. This is an evaluative study of their artistic programs, how arts specialists on campus empower teachers' artistic confidence, and the integration of the arts throughout the general curriculum. The following evaluation techniques were employed: comparison of arts programs before and after performing arts, visual arts and music class curriculum development, and teacher and student feedback and testimony. This project provides an investigation into the need for arts in the classroom and reviews the development of the successfully integrated arts program at OLAY. This study focuses both on the need for arts as well as how best to integrate them throughout the curriculum.