In a national climate of high-stakes testing, there is an ever-increasing need for policy that ensures high-quality arts education for all children. At the same time that arts education in K-12 schools is being diminished or eliminated, there is an ever-increasing body of research linking participation in the arts to various aspects of cognitive and social development. The Madison Violin Project, a partnership between a low-performing, low-socioeconomic status elementary school and a school of music, provides a model for effecting change through the arts. Implications are drawn from this model for elementary students, pre-service teachers, and arts education policy.