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Partnering with San Diego County public schools to expand access to free, equity-focused instrumental music programs

The Opus Project (Opus), formerly known as the Community Opus Project, currently provides orchestra and band after-school instrumental music instruction at Title I schools in three San Diego County school districts: Chula Vista Elementary School District (CVESD), San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD), and Santee School District (SSD).

What is Opus?

Through our multi-year partnerships with San Diego public schools, we provide:

  • Free, place-based instrumental music programs for youth in San Diego County schools,
  • An authentic and affirming space to cultivate joy, curiosity, and empathy through the music-making process,
  • Equity-focused, systems approach to music and arts pathways, and
  • School-based partnerships fostering community advocacy and empowerment.

Our Story

In response to increasing cuts to arts programs in California schools, SDYS launched the “Community Opus Project” (Opus) in partnership CVESD in 2010. Inspired by Venezuela’s successful El Sistema youth orchestra programs founded by Maestro Jose Antonio Abreu in 1975, Opus began as a free, community-based music and instrumental instruction program held after school. It was designed as part of a strategy to make the case to community stakeholders that quality music education experiences in the public school system would increase both attendance and retention, grades and test scores, reduce behavioral incidents, and result in increased government support for every student in CVESD.

Initial Outcomes

The Opus Project is one of the nation’s most successful public-private partnerships, having successfully built the value proposition for guaranteeing an arts education for students in California’s largest elementary school district. Beginning with two after-school programs, administrators recognized the metrics that demonstrated Opus was making a difference:

  • Increased attendance rates (resulting in higher state funding allocations),
  • Higher grades in the classroom and on standardized tests, and
  • stronger rates of parent engagement in school life.

As a result of these indicators, CVESD made a landmark $15 million dollar commitment to restore arts education and hire full time arts teachers in every one of their 46 schools. In less than five years, the success of the program inspired CVESD to provide arts education to all of its 30,000 students after over 17 years without arts education instruction during the school day. SDYS was also honored to involve the Save the Music Foundation (formerly VH1 Save the Music) as part of its growing coalition working to make change in San Diego’s south county. 

Recent Achievements

  • In 2022, The Opus Project piloted program sites at Title I schools in two new districts—San Diego Unified School District and Santee School District.
  • The Opus Project launched its first annual summer camp intensive in 2023 through funding from the San Diego Foundation. The camp ran five days a week for three weeks, culminating in a celebratory showcase of learning and creativity. The camp also featured two family nights aimed at connecting with families and building community around food, games, and sing-a-longs.
  • SDYS updated its tuition assistance policy in 2023, making tuition-based programs (such as the SDYS youth orchestras and bands, ChIMES, and Music Discovery) completely free for Opus Project students and their families.

For more information about The Opus Project, contact our Opus Project team at opus@sdys.org.

Resources

GIAreader: Grantmakers in the Arts

“Disrupting the Status Quo” – El Sistema, the Community Opus Project, and School Reform in the Chula Vista Elementary School District

Stand For Your Mission

The Power of Board Advocacy: A Discussion Guide for Boards

Arts Education Retakes the Stage in California Schools

California School Board Magazine | May 1, 2016

Community Opus Project Supporters & Partners

SCHOOL PARTNERSCOMMUNITY PARTNERSNATIONAL PARTNERS
Chula Vista Elementary School District,
San Diego Unified School District,
Santee School District Expanded Learning Programs,
Sweetwater Union High School District
Visual and Performing Arts,
San Diego County Office of Education
Visual and Performing Arts,
Central Elementary
Halecrest Elementary
Juarez-Lincoln Elementary
Lauderbach Elementary
Los Altos Elementary
Montgomery Elementary
Otay Elementary
PRIDE Academy at Prospect Avenue
Wolf Canyon Elementary
Chula Vista Community Collaborative
Arts Empower San Diego
South Bay Community Services
Chula Vista Promise Neighborhood
South Bay Alliance for Arts Education
UC San Diego Center for Human
Development
UC San Diego Extension Academic
Connections
SDSU School of Music
San Diego Symphony
South Bay Family YMCA
STEAM Connect
La Jolla Music Society
California Alliance for Arts Education
El Sistema USA
The Ensemble
ICAN, Santa Barbara
League of American Orchestras
Longy School of Music at Bard College
National Endowment for the Arts
Sistema Global
Support Music Coalition
VH1 Save The Music Foundation
VYMA — Verdugo Young Musicians
Association, Pasadena
The Weill Music Institute, Carnegie Hall
Yale School of Music
YOLA, LA Philharmonic

GOVERNMENT FUNDERS

Chula Vista Elementary School District
Sweetwater Union High School District
City of Chula Vista Cultural Arts
Commission
City of San Diego Commission for Arts
and Culture
County of San Diego Neighborhood
Reinvestment Program
California Arts Council
National Endowment for the Arts
US Department of Education – Promise
Neighborhood

FOUNDATION AND CORPORATE
FUNDERS


Arthur P Pratt & Jeanette Gladys Pratt
Memorial Fund
BoardSource
Christopher C. Collins Foundation
Christopher Weil & Co
Clarence E. Heller Foundation
Crossroads II Corporation
Cubic Corporation
Cynergy
D’Addario Foundation
David C. Copley Foundation
Ford Motor Company Fund/San Diego
County Ford Dealers
Goodrich/Rohr Employees Fund
James Irvine Foundation
Kinder Morgan
James Lauer Fund at The San Diego
Foundation
League of American Orchestras/Getty
Foundation
Legler-Benbough Foundation
Mandell Weiss Charitable Trust
Masserini Charitable Trust
NAMM Foundation
Nordson Corporation Foundation
Opus Community Foundation
Price Family Charitable Fund
ResMed Foundation
Samuel H. French III and Katherine Weaver
French Fund
Samuel I. & John Henry Fox Foundation
Sidney Stern Memorial Trust
Southwest Chula Vista Civic Association
The Parker Foundation
Thomas C. Ackerman Foundation
U.S. Bancorp Foundation
Union Bank Foundation
VH1 Save The Music Foundation
Walter J. and Betty C. Zable Foundation
Weingart Foundation
Wells Fargo Foundation
San Diego Youth Symphony