Pleasant Valley School District revamps music program
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers MELODY MINDED—Music teacher Trish Copsey directs her students in a beginning flute class last Friday. The after-school class is part of the Pleasant Valley School District's instrumental music program, which is free and open to fourth- to eighth-grade students.

After only a few weeks of flute lessons, 9-year-old Mynn Tan can play most of "Hot Cross Buns."

"It's fun," said Mynn at a recent lesson.

The Rancho Rosal Elementary fourth-grader is one of around 150 students enrolled in the Pleasant Valley School District's revamped music program. Beginning in fourth grade, students can learn to play the flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone and drums and other percussion instruments. A string class is expected to begin next month.

Three credentialed music teachers instruct students twice a week in three classrooms on the former Los Altos Middle School campus. The program is free.

Mynn saw a flier at school about the after-school program and asked her mother, Agnes Ngu, if she could sign up. Ngu agreed.

"This is really great; it's free," Ngu said.

But Ngu also said she's uneasy about the large class size. She's concerned that Mynn may not get the help she needs from the teacher and will become frustrated and drop out.

The flute class has about 40 students.

Large class size is "one of the trade-offs you have," said Darci Knight, director of categorical programs and one of the designers of the new music program.

Even so, the music program is an improvement overall from last year's, she said.

In 2007, lessons lasted only 30 minutes. They are an hour this year. Only fourth and fifthgraders could participate last year; this year, it's available to students in fourth through eighth grades.

The most significant change makes better use of the music teachers' time and talents, Knight said. The teachers had been traveling from one school to the next to give lessons on a variety of instruments. The lessons often interfered with classroom instruction, Knight said.

Scheduled music lessons would take place at the same time as tests, lab work or special projects.

Teachers were also inconvenienced, having to ensure students made up missed tests or other assignments, Knight said.

The classroom conflict has been resolved by scheduling music lessons after school. By having students come to the teachers, the district's money pays for instruction rather than travel time.

Rio Martinez, 10, said his trumpet lessons last year often occurred about the same time his teacher began a math lesson. Not wanting to miss music lessons, the first-year music student ended up having more homework to make up for missed class work.

The new format means the La Mariposa fifth-grader doesn't have to choose between music and class work.

"It's a lot of fun—I like music a lot," said Rio, who met his mother outside the classroom after a recent music lesson. Rio plays in the intermediate band this year.

"I'm thrilled that he's playing," said his mother, Elizabeth Martinez.

Martinez, who plays the flute in the Camarillo Community Band, said she's impressed overall with the district's music program, which culminates in an endof-school-year concert.

Asked how he thought he performed in the annual spring concert earlier this year, Rio said he didn't know.

"Are you kidding?" his mother said. "You guys were awesome."

Another benefit of the program's new format is that students learn in sections according to the instrument they play: Clarinetists and saxophonists learn together, separate from percussionists and those who play brass instruments.

"This allows us to target the specific needs of specific students," said Chris Kneisel, who teaches percussion and brass instruments and, beginning next month, the violin, viola and cello in the new strings class.

Educators can focus on teaching the correct fingering and mouth positions for each instrument, Kneisel said.

The new district program does have drawbacks, including a limit of 150 students. Pleasant Valley doesn't have enough money to hire more music teachers, Knight said. She wants to recruit volunteer musicians from the community, including high school students, who are willing to help students in need of individual attention.

Limited classroom space, a schedule that conflicts with afterschool sports programs and transportation to the Temple Avenue site are other challenges.

Ngu, who lives in Village at the Park, said she takes turns with other mothers transporting Mynn and their daughters from school to music lessons and then home.

In any event, this year's music program is transitional. What Knight, her staff and the music teachers really want is a full-scale visual and performing arts program incorporated into the school day and available to all elementary students.

Under this plan, each school would design its own program of dance, choir, instrumental music, drawing, painting and the like. The type of classes could rotate or change each semester so students could have more variety.

"That's our nirvana; that's our utopia of programs," Knight said. "Right now, we're building that continuum; we're building that timeline."

Soon Knight and the others will begin writing the curricula and, by the middle of the school year, plan to choose a school for the pilot program. For the first year, the program is planned for fifth-graders, then each descending grade level each year thereafter.

The music and other performing and visual arts programs rely mostly on state grants amounting to about $100,000 to operate, Knight said. How quickly the district can implement the "nirvana" program depends mostly on the state and its financial situation, she said.

"I'm positive; I'm optimistic," Knight said, "and we're going forward and doing the right thing. . . . We won't lose sight of it; we can't lose sight of it."

Educators know the value of music to students, Knight and the music teachers said.

Music training helps students with academic subjects, said Reese Copsey, who's taught music in Pleasant Valley schools for 12 years. Children learn discipline, teamwork and critical thinking and develop social skills, he said.

"It ties everything together," Copsey said. "Besides that, it's fun."

Trish Copsey, his daughter and a Pleasant Valley music teacher for 11 years, said she remembers a former student with special needs who struggled to play the trombone. The girl stuck with it, and when she graduated from high school was "thrilled" she was eligible to play in the Camarillo Community Band, Trish Copsey said.

Registration for the strings class ends Nov. 14. For information, call (805) 445-8664.