What is Harmony Stockton?
Launched August 1, 2011
at Marshall Elementary in Stockton, California
Harmony Stockton is...
... a daily after-school enrichment program combining two hours of music instruction with academic tutoring and regular public performance to assist young students in developing life skills toward personal, academic, and social success
... a partnership of four organizations with a five-year commitment to fund and expand Harmony Stockton at a Title I elementary school in Stockton CA
... one of 55 El Sistema-inspired programs in the United States seeking to translate the inspiration of El Sistema in Venezuela to American communities and educational structures
In its first year, Harmony Stockton...
... performed for more than 2400 at 12 public events, focusing progress and galvanizing the learning community of 35 students in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades
... reached fundraising goals with support from a range of corporate and foundation grants as well as over 100 individual donors, surpassing its matching goal from United Way
... kept within budget and gained an NEA grant for Year 2!
... gained classroom visits from 9 professional musicians and 7 University of the Pacific Conservatory students
Harmony Stockton is proud to have...
... enthusiastic support from parents and school staff
... enduring commitment from the four partnership organizations, unanimously excited by the first year successes
... a Dream Team of instructors - along with 95% of first-year students returning (those not moving to another school) |
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"Twenty years of studies demonstrate the
benefits of instrumental instruction for enhancing life skills for young
students. If these benefits are a by-product of learning the instrument, how
strong might the benefit be when life skills are the focus of the
musical instruction?"
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Make a violin available for
the Harmony Stockton class!
click here |
Harmony Stockton students perform at Back-to-School Night for a full house of families, showing discipline with focus and teamwork after just 2-1/2 weeks! Cereal- box violins help develop coordination toward earning their real instruments, provided by donations to the Stockton Symphony.
Choral & General Music Instructors:
- Rachel Waiters, Vocal Instructor
- Barbara Williams, General Music Instructor
- Elizabeth Kowal, Vocal Assistant
- Alex Grambow, Vocal Assistant
- Stephen Coss, Accompanist & Tutor
Violin Instructors:
- Robin Roulet, String Instructor
- Chelsea Brown, Instructor & Tutor
- Caleb Wait, Site Liaison, Assistant & Tutor
- Maribel Alvarez Munoz, Assistant & Tutor
- Nancy Kizer, Substitute
Tomorrow Project Administrator (University of the Pacific): Nancy Shaw
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ADDITIONAL SPONSORS:
Stockton Sunrise Rotary Club |
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The Program: Instruction for 40 students in 3rd, 4th and 5th grade, five days a week from 2:05 to 6:00.
The Schedule: An Academic Hour of tutoring is followed by two music classes; one for violin instruction, the other for choral and general music (including recorder, rhythm buckets, and movement).
The Curriculum: Lead Instructors for Violin and Choral/General Music coordinate planning for musical progress and life skill development. Enrollment and academic tutoring are accomplished in collaboration with STEP Up, Stockton Unified School District's after-school enrichment program at all district schools.
The Partnership:
United Way of San Joaquin County has committed five years of seed funding to inspire a strengthening of annual steps toward independence and long-term demonstration of the value of Harmony Stockton for the academic progress of participating students.
The Stockton Symphony manages Harmony Stockton and raises half the remaining funds needed to sustain it from private donations and foundation grants.
MAJOR GIFTS: The National Endowment for the Arts, the Teichert Foundation, the Charles Alfred Bowers Memorial Fund
Harmony Stockton is a Tomorrow Project Academy of the University of the Pacific. Three University departments assist development of the program: the Pacific Conservatory of Music, the Department of Music Education, and the Benerd School of Education.
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The Launch:
Harmony Stockton began Aug. 1, 2011, following a competitive selection process among Stockton elementary schools followed by site visits. Parents of 39 fourth- and fifth-grade students responded to recruitment the first week of school. A second class of 10 students began January 3, 2012.
A new class of 29 students began January 3, 2013.
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