Culver City Unified School District prides itself on being an “Arts for All” district – every student in every grade has arts education available. For the first time this year, TK through fifth-grade students now have 30 minutes of music every week, with four dedicated general music/vocal teachers working to make it happen: Danielle Koplinka-Lehr, Kimberly Gallagher for TK/K-second, and Erin Smith and Molly Peters for third-fifth.
In addition, all third graders are now receiving weekly musical instruction with recorders in their classrooms, an increase from the instruction CCUSD has provided in previous years. Hiring new teachers also allows the elementary schools to add a new instrument – ukuleles! – to fourth and fifth grades for 30 minutes of instruction each week.
The recorders and ukuleles are provided through generous donations to the Culver City Education Foundation (CCEF), including a grant from the Culver City Rotary Community Foundation.
These new teachers and the expansion of CCUSD’s music program are the direct result of Californians voting overwhelmingly in favor of Prop 28, an arts education funding initiative that was on the 2022 ballot to provide additional funding for K-12th-grade public and charter schools. Administered by the California Department of Education, Prop 28 funds must be used to supplement already existing arts education programming.
The new programs are in addition to CCUSD’s robust elementary music programs already in place. This includes the pull out instrumental music program for fourth and fifth graders with Andrew Pascoe, and the District’s long-standing partnership with Symphonic Jazz Orchestra, which is also funded by donations to CCEF.
Decades of research has shown that children and teens who study music perform better in school. They get higher grades, have improved literacy, and are 24% more likely to graduate. In fact, students highly engaged in music are, on average, academically more than one year ahead of their peers.
CCUSD is grateful to the voters, to CCEF, and to the California Department of Education for making arts instruction in our schools a high priority so the District can provide even more programming, helping our students sing, strum and play.
Culver Pride
