Music
Parents' Society
P.O. Box 2146,
Castro Valley, CA 94546
email cvmps@yahoo.com
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My name is Drue McCarthy; I am Co-Treasurer of Music Parents Society. I spoke at your last meeting to urge you to maintain the music program. I am speaking tonight on a very closely-related subject – maintenance of the seven-period day at Castro Valley High School.
Music and the other arts programs would be very negatively affected by the move to a six period day.
Since freshmen and sophomores at the high school are required to take PE and Health/Comparative Cultures and Geography), a six-period day would mean that they couldn't take both a language and music.
In a six period day, freshmen and sophomores who want a rigorous college prep curriculum have to take: Math, Science, English, CCG/Health, PE, and only one other class - the one other would have to be either a foreign language or music - they could not take both.
Students who want to go to college need to take a language, so the music program would lose kids.
This is not a case of students doubling up on music classes – if freshmen or sophomores wanted to take a foreign language, they would not be able to take any music their whole freshman and sophomore years. (By the way, this would also be true for Journalism, Theater, Leadership). Any students who elected to take any of these classes freshman or sophomore years would not be able to take a foreign language.
If the high school switches to a six period day, we would have hundreds of students who were in band, orchestra, or choir all through middle school, who would have to drop music for the first two years of high school. The program would lose lots of students, just at the time they should be given the opportunity to excel. As you can see when you go to any of the high school concerts, the quality of musicianship improves dramatically from the freshman to the senior year. The reason the top groups at the high school are so impressive is that they’ve studied their craft continuously through their middle and high school years. This would not be true if they could not take music for the first two years of high school.
Our schools are strongest when they allow kids to be well-rounded. We have hundreds of high school students who are very good academically and who love music and the arts, be it choir, band, orchestra or drama. If students couldn't take that full curriculum it would really hurt them – both in their college applications and in their lives.
I urge you to maintain the seven-period day at Castro Valley High School.
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