By Dave Fidlin
Music curriculum for all of the elementary schools in the Waterford Graded district may soon be tweaked and enhanced, based on a proposal unveiled last week.
With the backing of district administrators and her fellow colleagues, music teacher Barb Canales came before the School Board’s Policy and Curriculum Committee during a meeting held Sept. 9.
With the intent of enhancing music instruction, Canales said she and her colleagues would like to tweak the rotation of concerts for elementary-aged students.
Since 2008, the concert sequence at Evergreen, Trailside and Woodfield elementary schools has resulted in a December performance for students in grades two, four and six.
Students in grades one, three and five perform their concerts in the spring.
The district’s elementary music staff have proposed tweaking the concert sequence – perhaps as soon as the current 2013-14 school year – so students in grades four, five and six perform in December and students in grades one, two and three perform in the spring.
“The thought behind this is that grades five and six have general music once a week, whereas other grade levels have it twice a week,” Superintendent Chris Joch explained.
While the 2008 changes were touted at the time as a way of offering more flexibility in the classroom, Joch and others asserted there have been some unintended consequences.
For example, current fifth-graders spend a large amount of time with concert preparation during the second half of the school year. In the next year, as new sixth-graders, these same students once again spend a full semester on concert preparation, this time in the fall.
“The goal was to split up the back-to-back semesters of concerts to include more instruction of music elements, theory and other curriculum,” Joch said.
Canales said other logistical issues have been looked into as suggested changes have come to the surface. For example, she and other music staffers took into account parking configurations and the dates and times concerts have been scheduled.
“It all is a matter of who is performing and at what time,” Canales said.
Also under review is the practice of having students perform both afternoon and evening concerts – a scenario in which students must return to school in the evening after a school day.
When asked by the committee when she and other music staffers would like the changes implemented, Canales replied, “We’d like to get moving on this as quickly as possible.”
Canales and Joch mentioned there has been communication with most of the building principals about the suggested changes.
School Board members sitting on the Policy and Curriculum Committee did not offer much feedback during last week’s discussion. But they appeared receptive to the proposed changes.
Joch cautioned the committee about a possible consequence for making a change, explaining it could potentially be an issue of concern to some parents – particularly those who have come to look forward to the holiday concerts in December.
“I would sense this could be something that is sensitive,” Joch explained.
The full Waterford Graded School Board will likely make a final decision about the music curriculum at their next regular meeting, scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Monday, Sept. 23, at Evergreen Elementary School, 817 W. Main St., Waterford.
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