Sweetwater Students to Benefit from $3.2 Million Block Grant
State funds to support PE and Visual and Performing Arts instruction

Thanks to the state’s new Arts, Music and Physical Education grants, Sweetwater educators now have needed resources to develop a comprehensive curriculum for the district’s 42,000 students. The district’s $3.2 million funding allocation will be focused on providing professional development for teachers, as well as purchasing equipment and supplies to improve instruction in physical education and the visual and performing arts.

“We are excited about the opportunity to reinvest in these two critical curriculum areas,” said Sweetwater Board President Arlie Ricasa. “Both physical education and visual and performing arts provide students with creative and expressive outlets vital to their complete development.”

According to the California Department of Education, this is the first time all schools will receive monies especially designated for physical education and the visual and performing arts. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell expects these targeted initiatives to have far-reaching effects on schools.

Showcasing Creative Talents: Sweetwater’s annual art show regularly presents outstanding and creative student art work.

“High-quality arts education and improved physical fitness can support achievement in all areas of a student’s education,” O’Connell said. “These grants will help provide our schools with resources to implement standards-based instruction in physical education and visual and performing arts.”

To guide the expenditure of these grant funds, the district created two task forces representing the visual and performing arts and physical education areas. Each group analyzed the needs of students and teachers across the district and developed specific recommendations on the best use of this new financial support.

“The input from these task forces has been critical in determining the best and most effective use of this grant money,” said Dr. Jesus Gandara, Sweetwater Superintendent. “In utilizing these valuable resources, we are committed to maximizing the positive impact on students.”

The Arts Education Plan, developed by a district-wide strategic planning committee, outlines the direction the district will pursue through this funding. Bill Virchis, Director of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) and chair of the arts committee, said his group focused on ways the district could achieve an exemplary visual and performing arts program. He said the committee is committed to offering a program that raises student achievement in the arts and provides equity and equal access throughout the district.

Support for Music Programs: With the Art, Music and PE grant, new equipment will soon be in the hands of many district students.

“This is a gift to our schools that is unprecedented in state of California history,” said Virchis. “These additional resources will fill in gaps in school funding for arts programs, supplies and equipment. We are now in a position to finally meet the primary needs of our teachers and students in our visual and performing arts.”

While there are state guidelines, Virchis said there is no one single plan that will fit for every school district in the state. Sweetwater has decided on a five-year plan to infuse the funds from the one-time block grant and the state’s proposed ongoing arts funding into the district’s arts program. In the first year of implementation, goals will include accessibility for all students in all four disciplines within a sequential program taught by fully credentialed teachers; ensuring high quality instruction by providing professional development in the visual and performing arts for teachers and administrators; creating a 7-12 continuum of standards-based arts education that can be successfully implemented to meet the needs of the district and the community; and providing adequate supplies, equipment and facilities for standards-based programs in all four disciplines for all students.

New equipment and supplies represent some of the most pressing and immediate needs across the district. VAPA has plans to buy equipment such as pianos, guitars, drums and horns that can be shared district wide. Dr. James Doyle, accompanist and orchestra liaison, said the new equipment serves a dual purpose.

“Keeping in mind that the district has some very old and damaged equipment, it is important to acknowledge that the new instruments help raise the level of health and safety for students,” Doyle said. “The major impact, though, will be on increased curriculum support.”

According to Virchis, the planning committee has instituted a process by which each school identifies arts program needs, provides justification for their requested items and explains their ability to sustain the new initiatives.

“Every school has a big wish list,” Virchis said. “What VAPA does is review these requests and examine how the requests support the students in terms of curriculum and instruction.”

Similar work has been completed by a group examining the physical education needs of district students and teachers. According to PE Task Force Co-Chairs Eileen Grady-Romero and Kim Butler, the goals of the district’s physical education program are to provide students with a variety of age-appropriate physical activities, opportunities to attain the health related benefits of rigorous physical activity and an environment where students develop the positive personal and social skills required for society. Grady-Romero, who teaches physical education at Rancho del Rey Middle School, also sees additional benefits to this increased attention to physical education.

“With this targeted funding we will be looking to align teaching curriculums to the new state standards, improve our students’ state Fitnessgram scores and combat the obesity epidemic proliferating in the Sweetwater community,” Grady-Romero said.

The task force’s plan for physical education indicates the block grant funding will be used specifically to establish the district’s first ever Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment team for physical education. Butler, who serves as the Physical Education Curriculum Specialist for the district and a teacher at Mar Vista Middle, said one of the team’s first jobs will be to create the course writing team that will develop new course descriptions. These descriptions will be in line with new state standards and include a focus on student improvement on the Fitnessgram.

Recent fitness test results indicate Sweetwater students lag behind their peers across the state in physical education performance. In all six physical fitness tasks on the 2005-06 California Physical Fitness Report, district 9^th graders performed below the state average. In fact only 25% of Sweetwater 9^th graders passed all six fitness standards. In the specific areas of aerobic capacity, body composition and abdominal strength, 9^th grade students from Sweetwater also scored lower than the average for San Diego County.

“Although we want to see the percentage of students who pass all six Fitnessgram assessments increase, our main focus is we want to see improvements in the cardiovascular and body composition scores because of the relationship these assessments have for lifetime wellness,” Butler said.

Grady-Romero acknowledges that improving overall student wellness for the long-term will be the important outcome for Sweetwater’s physical education initiative.

“We hope that through the new physical education model and participation in life-long fitness activities, our young people will leave the Sweetwater District with a strong foundation in fitness that they will carry into their adult years,” said Grady-Romero.

Virchis agrees that these new state funds-and the programs and new equipment they support-will have a wide impact in the district.

“We view these funds as a benefit to not only students in specialized programs, but for the general student body,” he said. “The funding provides a foundation for instructors to focus on instruction without having to spend time worrying about the needs of the program. It’s like a coach who no longer has to worry about a hole in the grass field and can just focus on coaching to bring out the best in our students.”