- Year-Round School? My Kids Love It. Yours Will, Too. (Washington Post, June 7, 2009) (reprinted, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/25/09). Washington Post Reporter Brigid Schulte describes the successes of Alexandria’s year-round schools. “The atmosphere at school during intersessions even feels different. Teachers can experiment and get to know the students better in a more relaxed setting. “Problem” students, they find, are not problems when they’re deeply absorbed in a task they like. Luisa Tio, an artist who regularly teaches intersession classes, was warned about one child. Instead, he was a model student. “He was able to create these incredibly detailed portraits,” she told me. “Sometimes children need to learn in different ways.” “
- Letter to the Editor: Intersession is for Teaching Children, Not to Babysit Them. (Alexandria Gazette-Packet, Sept. 12, 2011). In a letter to the editor on the benefits of school intersessions a Mt. Vernon Community School parent describes her son’s experience at the National Gallery of Art after he took one of the intersession classes Luisa co-taught with longtime teaching collaborator Peggy Ashbrook. “We will never forget when we took our older son to the National Gallery of Art shortly after an art intersession program when he was in kindergarten. A visitor asked one of the docents where the Jackson Pollock paintings were located. The docent said that they had only one on display. Our son turned to us and said, “There are two. The other one is over there.” He pointed to the second painting. He was correct.”
- Making Art Mean Change (Mamiverse – Latina Moms Changing America). In December 2011, Luisa was voted as one of ten Latina Moms Changing America in a contest sponsored by Mamiverse.
- Living the Dream (Alexandria Gazette Packet, Jan. 18, 2012). Five of the twelve winners of Alexandria’s 2012 Martin Luther King, Jr., Poster Contest were art students of Luisa’s at Matthew Maury Elementary School. During January and February their work was displayed along with amazing art by other students from across the city in Alexandria’s City Hall to honor Dr. King and his vision. This wonderful annual contest is sponsored each year by the Alexandria City Public Schools, the Alexandria Society for the Preservation of Black Heritage, Inc. and the Alexandria Black History Museum.
- Every Drop of Water Counts at Alexandria Earth Day Event (WTOP, April 20, 2013). Matthew Maury Elementary students modeled their truffula tree creations made from recycled water bottles in an UpCycle showcase during the Alexandria Earth Day celebration. Over 80 Matthew Maury Elementary students from Luisa’s afterschool art club, the Maury second grade, and the Maury Environmental Club collaborated to make the trees under leadership from Luisa and Maury Environmental Club leaders Pete Raack and Mary Clock-Rust. Thank you to City of Alexandria staff and sponsors for making this wonderful event possible! Check out the students’ truffula trees courtesy of WTOP here and some wonderful related activities at The Lorax Project courtesy of Random House’s Seussville site. And remember, “UNLESS someone like you … cares a whole awful lot … nothing is going to get better… It’s not.”
Luisa Tio 
Good for you, Luisa ( and John!) Love the site, Tini