The arts and music have been unintended victims of the No Child Left Behind Act. Several reports point to sharp reductions in student access to K-12 arts education, yet some school districts nationwide have managed to buck the trend. These districts, in communities rural through urban, are systemically embedding the arts at the core of teaching and learning. In these settings, the arts are taught as individual subjects, sometimes referred to as "arts for art's sake" along with efforts to integrate the arts with other subjects throughout the curriculum. A systems approach to the arts incorporates strategic planning and professional development for teachers and draws on school and community resources to build comprehensive arts education programs, based on the belief that all children should have an education that includes the arts. Making such a commitment and following through can be difficult while dealing with the federal law's accountability demands in math and literacy. This article reports on how some school districts find ways around NCLB to increase student access to instruction in dance, music, theatre and the visual arts.