Friday, November 1, 2019

AEP Brings the Arts to 11,000 SDUSD Elementary Students

The Arts Education Project (AEP) provides regular and ongoing Professional Learning Community (PLC) release time for elementary classroom teachers through a rotation of discrete arts lessons. AEP utilizes specially trained Visiting Teachers with arts backgrounds who teach a sequence of standards-based lesson plans provided by the VAPA Department. Now in its fourth year, AEP has continued to expand, now reaching over 11,000 students at 29 elementary schools in San Diego Unified. 

During each visit, students at AEP schools receive three approximately one-hour arts lessons in a rotation of dance, music, theatre, and/or visual art. Schools can select from a nine-visit program or an eighteen-visit program. All elementary schools in San Diego Unified were invited to participate in the program. 

Schools use a variety of site based funding sources to pay for a customized AEP package that is tailored to their budget and staff needs. Most of the schools in the program use Title I funds while others use funds from foundations, site discretionary resources, and/or parent-teacher associations. The cost of the program for the site includes the Visiting Teachers’ salaries, benefits and training. It also includes materials and technology required to access lesson plans and teaching resources, and plug into classroom displays. Through this program, elementary grade-level teams can meet for a half-day block of PLC time (without having to write lesson plans), and every student receives a half-day of standards-based learning in the visual and performing arts. Schools participating in the Arts Education Project (AEP) this year: Benchley-Weinberger, Bethune K-8, Burbank, Carver, Chavez, Crown Point, Dingeman, Emerson-Bandini, Encanto, Fay, Field, Florence, Freese, Ibarra, Johnson, Jones, Kimbrough, Lafayette, Normal Heights, Pacific View, Penn, Porter, Rodriguez, Sequoia, Spreckels, Washington, Webster, Whitman, Zamorano 

More information about the SDUSD Arts Education Project can be found at https://sites.google.com/sandi.net/artseducationproject/home.