Where would we be without them? We start off as small children with wild imaginations; exploring in our minds the most fascinating and outrageous adventures.  We want to be superman, princesses, and various superheroes.  Then we get a bit older and continue to fantasize although our dreams feel a bit more realistic and we have the awareness to dream about a life that may actually be possible. We want to be doctors, lawyers, or own hair salons.  Our dreams don’t stop, if we are lucky, we will dream big forever. Mid-Pen has dreams. We dream of growth, we dream of some day opening Mid-Pen campuses in other parts of the Bay Area, we dream of opening a middle school so 6^th, 7^th, and 8^thgraders can benefit from the curriculum and flexibility that we have to offer. And currently, we are in the process of achieving one other dream, to build a Performing Arts Center in the back of campus.  Research shows “students who had arts-rich experiences in high school showed higher overall grade point averages than did students who lacked those experiences.” Although most of this study was done with students from lower socioeconomic groups, they did also mention that “Among high school students from higher-income, higher –education families (the top 25 percent in socioeconomic terms), those who were involved in the arts had a significantly higher GPA than those who did not.” Mid-Pen has plans to expand our existing art program, offer a richer music and drama program, and ensure that our students are offered the opportunity to express themselves beyond the academic classroom.