180 Days of Learning : FULLERTON
- Share via
At a time when many school districts are cutting arts programs, a Fullerton project that teaches art, drama, music and dance to every kindergartner through sixth-grader is expanding.
When school starts, “All the Arts for All the Kids” will be entering its eighth year, and its coordinators hope to add 10 teachers to a staff of 30 musicians, singers, artists, actors, writers and dancers.
The additional staff is needed because of the district’s expansion of the class-size reduction program, which is adding 20 classrooms--each with 20 or fewer pupils.
Students, classroom teachers, principals, parents and district administrators all have thrown their support behind the program over the years, said Lauralyn Eschner, the district’s fine arts coordinator. “They’ve seen what a difference it makes in the lives of the kids and everyone has become a strong arts advocate.”
Each student gets 16 lessons--four each in art, music, dance and drama--throughout the academic year. Teachers also weave history, geography and math into the arts classes.
For example, Eschner said, “one teacher teaches all the names of the states through one song and multiplication facts through another. . . . When students study Impressionism, they see a map of France and learn where Monet lived and how the country influenced his artwork. When they see a dance from Japan, they learn about that country and what went into creating the dance.”
When All the Arts started in 1990, the district provided 50% of the funding. The rest came from donations, individual school site councils, parent-teacher organizations, the All the Arts for All the Kids Foundation and the Children’s League of Fullerton.
This year, the district will pay 75% of the $100,000 needed to continue the program, the only one of its kind in the state.
At public schools in affluent areas, parents often can raise the money for arts education, she said, but students at poorer schools go without.
“Here, all our children are receiving an excellent arts program,” she said.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
More From the Los Angeles Times
Podcasts
In “Rebuilding Los Angeles,” Kate Cagle explores the aftermath of L.A.’s recent wildfires, examining systemic failures and innovative recovery efforts while sharing inspiring stories of community resilience in the face of climate change.
Madison McGhee and Andie Cassette talk about the correlation between love, lust, and crime on this week’s bonus episode.
In this episode, Sammy Roth speaks with geography professor James McCarthy, who’s studied how authoritarianism and environmental destruction can be deeply intertwined.
