Bring On the Music

Last night we watched the movie The Music Never Stopped based on a true story about the impact music therapy had on a young man who had experienced brain damage. If music can be this powerful in an extreme case such as this it can definitely have an impact on our Esperanza scholars.

A study mentioned in the journal Social Science Quarterly in 2009 reveals that music participation, defined as music lessons taken in or out of school and parents attending concerts with their children, has a positive effect on reading and mathematic achievement in early childhood and adolescence.

The study went onto to mention that certain groups are disadvantaged in access to music education. Families with high socioeconomic status participate more in music than do families with lower socioeconomic status. In addition to social class as a predictor of music participation, ethnicity is also a factor. Asians and Whites are more likely to participate in music than are Hispanics.

We are committed to providing a schoolwide violin/mariachi program for all our Esperanza scholars. We will also encourage teachers to incorporate a variety of music in all feasible ways in their classrooms to not only learn vocabulary and concepts but also to feed the soul.

Support for Esperanza's Violin/Mariachi Program

Last Friday--May 6th--a presidential advisory panel issued a report that makes the case for expanding access to arts education in schools, arguing that the arts hold great potential to bolster student engagement and academic achievement.

Decades of research show strong and consistent links between high-quality arts education and a wide range of empressive educational outcomes. Integrating the arts with other classroom subjects is yielding some particularly promising results. Yet, especially schools with low-income student populations are given less exposure to the arts because of budgets fueled by an emphasis on subjects of high stakes testing.

The timing of this report is especially important to support the violin/mariachi program we are planning to make part of our Esperanza Elementary experience for all students.