By starting student-centered and folding in supporting stakeholders – including teachers, schools, parents, and the broader community – SDYS uses a systemic approach that takes the entire school ecosystem into account and engages it through wrap-around activities.

The Opus Project Today
This season marks the 11-year anniversary of the Community Opus Project. Over 100 of its past musicians are now learning in SDYS’ Conservatory programs on weekends in Balboa Park. Opus’ co-founder musicians, who were in third grade in 2010, are in college and the Chula Vista Elementary School District (CVESD) now offers music education to over 20,000 students at 32 schools.
With the continued reinstatement of music education in CVESD, SDYS has refocused energy and impact into developing new programs, advocating for quality music education, sharing knowledge, and releasing ownership of programs to district-hired music teachers and school sites. By starting student-centered and folding in supporting stakeholders—including teachers, schools, parents, and the broader community—SDYS uses a systemic approach that takes the entire school ecosystem into account and engages it through wrap-around activities. This helps to ensure student success — artistically, academically and socio-emotionally.
SDYS partners with CVESD sites to establish or strengthen instrumental music programs, then nurtures each school partner through a series of developmental phases as programs grow. This allows individual campuses to “graduate” from SDYS support over time — thereby building a self-sustaining program with a greater sense of community ownership and allowing SDYS to re-allocate resources to where other needs exist in CVESD.
SDYS now provides after-school instrumental music instruction at six sites, four of which are engaged in that multi-year ownership transition.
The History
San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory (SDYS) believes every student deserves music education for the lifetime of joy it provides and the habits, skills, and traits students acquire that will improve their academic, personal, and professional lives. Unfortunately, public school budget cuts have made it inaccessible for many students. Determined to use its resources to reverse that trend, in 2010 SDYS adopted a long-term vision of “making music education accessible and affordable for all.” To achieve this goal, it launched the Community Opus Project to demonstrate the positive effects of learning music by providing free after school music instruction, engaging the parents, educating the community, and persuading school districts to reinstate district-wide music instruction.
For the pilot program, SDYS partnered with the Chula Vista Elementary School District, which had not provided school-day music instruction for more than 15 years. SDYS began by providing free after school instrumental instruction to 65 third-graders at two schools. The positive effects on the students were apparent so quickly that in 2013 CVESD committed to reinstating in-school music instruction so that all of its nearly 30,000 students would be able to learn music and arts in school.
SDYS, CVESD and other local partners continue to collaborate to make high-quality music instruction available for all students. Students, families and other residents from all parts of Chula Vista will come together around the shared joy of learning, performing and experiencing beautiful music. For more information about our Opus Project, contact Brianda Felix, Community Program Coordinator, at bfelix@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
More Information
For more information about our Opus Project, contact Brianda Felix, Community Program Coordinator, at bfelix@sdys.org.
Community Opus Project Supporters & Partners

SCHOOL PARTNERS | COMMUNITY PARTNERS | NATIONAL PARTNERS |
---|---|---|
Chula Vista Elementary School District Sweetwater Union High School District Visual and Performing Arts San Diego County Office of Education Visual and Performing Arts Kellogg Elementary Rodgers Elementary Veterans Elementary Castle Park Middle Chula Vista Middle Hilltop Middle Castle Park High Chula Vista High | 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 |