Finally - a school funding story of a positive nature.
The San Mateo-Foster City School District (SMFCSD) and the San Mateo-Foster City Education Foundation (SMFCED) have announced that funding has been secured for music programs for all elementary grades for the 2012-13 school year.
While the Education Foundation has provided funds for fifth grade instrumental music classes for the past three years running, local schools have not had a program for grades kindergarten through fourth since 2008, said Amber Farinha of the SMFCSD.
Janet Koe, president of the Education Foundation, recently announced that the school district has secured the funds to support music for grades K-4, and the foundation will once again be providing the funds for the fifth grade.
"In response to the support for the return of a K-4 music program, it’s with great excitement that I announce the return of our music program to all grades," Koe wrote in a letter on the foundation's website.
Koe said she is overjoyed that music will now be available to all elementary grades.
"While support for the fifth grade instrumental music program is important, we’ve always felt the need to support all grades across all of our district’s elementary and middle schools," she said. "We applaud the district’s investment in our children’s future, and their confidence in the Education Foundation as we grow and take on funding responsibility for the district-wide music program."
Koe added, research published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science indicates that music can help a child’s brain develop. In particular, the study notes that “people with musical training have improved language-learning ability,” and that exposure to even casual musical training can lead to more acute hearing."
"As the President of the San Mateo-Foster City Education Foundation, I thank the district for their support," Koe wrote on the foundation's website. "As a parent of two boys at , I’m thrilled that music will be a part of their curriculum in the upcoming school year."
For more information on the San Mateo-Foster City Education Foundation, visit http://smfcedfund.org/.
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