Since 2017, the Foundation has supported music education in San Bruno public schools with grants totaling $853,000 as part of the Music Education Strategic Initiative.

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The Foundation Board launched the initiative in 20217 to make music education a hallmark of San Bruno’s public schools. The Music Education Strategic Initiative is the result of months of collaboration with the San Bruno Park School District, Capuchino High School, the San Bruno Education Foundation (SBEF), and the Capuchino High School Alumni Association (CHSAA). Under the original arrangement from 2017-2019, the Foundation made investments totaling $495,000 in the music programs at Capuchino High School and all seven San Bruno Park School District schools. In May 2020, the Board approved a fourth year of funding totaling $68,000 for continued implementation of the Music Education Strategic Initiative in the 2020-2021 school year.

 

Music program activities funded through the Initiative with SBCF funding include:

 

• New uniforms for the Capuchino High School Marching Band (top photo)

• Transportation for Capuchino music groups to attend performances and competitions

• Instruments and supplies for the Parkside Intermediate School music program

• Elementary music education for all San Bruno Park School District elementary schools through Music for Minors

• Fund development activities to ensure that SBEF and CHSAA are able to sustain the music programs once SBCF funding sunsets

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SBEF and CHSAA jointly held the first “Music in the Air” community concert in November 2018 as part of the Initiative’s sustainability efforts. Raising more than $80,000, the concert featured performances by musical groups from Capuchino,
Parkside, and the elementary schools, as well as professional opera singer Kevin Thompson (middle photo, with then-Capuchino senior Jonathan Cayaban, who now attends UC San Diego, on piano), who flew in from New York to participate.

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The Music Education Strategic Initiative was named the 2019 winner of the Partners in Educational Excellence Award by the Association of California School Administrators Region 5. A group representing the various community partners participating in the Initiative - including (bottom photo, clockwise from top left) then-Parkside Principal Don Smith, then-San Bruno Education Foundation Vice President Bryan Vander Lugt, San Mateo Union High School District Superintendent Kelly Skelly, then-SBPSD Trustee Kevin Martinez, then-SBCF Board Member Pat Bohm, then-SBPSD Superintendent Stella Kemp, and Capuchino High School Alumni Association Vice President Judy Puccini - received the award at an April 30, 2019, dinner in South San Francisco.

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Read the 2017 press release announcing the Initiative and see the ABC 7 News video on the revival of the Capuchino High School band, in part due to SBCF funding.  

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2022 Extension

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In April 2022, the Foundation extended the Initiative for the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years with an additional $290,000 investment.  

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The new set of music education grants includes $270,000 to the San Bruno Education Foundation to jump start a new sixth grade music program at Parkside Intermediate School. Under the new program, Parkside sixth graders will be able to enroll in a year-long music class, such as instrumental music, chorus/vocal music, and music exploration, with the goal of sparking a passion for further music instruction in students. The program aims to remedy the pandemic’s impact on music instruction in the San Bruno Park School District.

 

The grant funding will enable the San Bruno Park School District to hire a dedicated sixth grade music teacher at Parkside and cover the teacher’s compensation package for the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years. The grant will also cover related program expenses, including purchasing and repairing instruments, sheet music, and other supplies for the sixth-grade music courses.  

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As part of the Initiative, the Capuchino High School music program will receive a total of $20,000. Despite the challenges the program has faced throughout the pandemic, student interest in band, orchestra, and chorus classes has continued to thrive, while the costs of properly supporting these students through instruction and performance have grown. The grant funding funds will boost the high school music program by providing funding for transportation and other costs related to performances and competitions, replenishing the instrument supply, and instrumental/vocal sectional coaching.

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Read the press release announcing the 2022 grants and program expansion.