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
Time to Embrace Arts Education as a Priority
UT San Diego | March 9, 2016
Community Opus Project Supporters & Partners
SCHOOL PARTNERS | COMMUNITY PARTNERS | NATIONAL 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 |