For the second consecutive year, the Carlsbad Unified School District (CUSD) celebrates a milestone in its music education program. With additional state funding and a $430,000 grant from Carlsbad Educational Foundation (CEF), every elementary school is staffed with a full-time music teacher providing weekly classes to students in grades TK-5.
“The full-time music teachers have become part of our team and truly invest in the goals that we have set forth for our school site,” said Calavera Hills Elementary (CHE) Principal Kimberly Fuentes.
In a 2023-24 staff meeting, Ms. Fuentes noted improvements in attendance, and math and reading scores in the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program after CHE introduced a full-time music teacher.
“Students want to be here,” Fuentes said. “Students feel like they belong to something.”
Before the funding from California’s Proposition 28 and the grant from CEF, CUSD had not funded full-time music teachers at each of its nine elementary schools in over 20 years.
California voters passed Prop. 28 in 2022, providing an additional 1% of a school’s annual budget to art and music programs. However, Carlsbad Unified School District remains one of the lowest funded K-12 districts in San Diego County, receiving less per pupil funding than its neighboring unified districts.
Carlsbad Educational Foundation helps bridge the funding gap. Thanks to donations from individuals and community partners, CEF awarded more than $1.5 million in grants for TK-12 programs in music, STEAM, and innovation for the 2024-25 school year.
“The funding from CEF gives teachers the opportunities to keep programs thriving,” said CHE Music Teacher Kelly Lack. “The things I hear from teachers, staff, and parents, is that music in Carlsbad this year has brought families back to school.”
The elementary music program is one of 40 programs benefiting students at every grade level in CUSD.
“We are immensely grateful to the Carlsbad Educational Foundation, and its community of supporters, for its unwavering support of exemplary programs benefiting the students of Carlsbad Unified School District,” said CUSD Superintendent Ben Churchill.
Fifth-grade students practice playing the recorder during elementary music class.
Calavera Hills Elementary Music Teacher Kelly Lack teaches a student how to play a drum.