SFUSD Fourth Graders Receive Donated Recorders to Continue Music Education at Home

San Francisco (October 28, 2020) - More than 4,300 fourth grade students across the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) have received a donated recorder that will enable the district’s entire 4th grade class to participate in general music classes at home. The donation is made possible by a partnership between Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation and StubHub as part of StubHub’s three-year commitment to put over $3 million in music instruments into public school music programs.

“At SFUSD, we believe that cultivating our students’ creativity is essential to a well-rounded 21st Century ready education,” SFUSD Superintendent Dr. Vincent Matthews said. “Each and every student in grades Pre-K through 12th is provided a rigorous and meaningful arts education. As we are currently engaged in distance learning to protect against the spread of COVID-19, our arts educators have been working hard to find ways to continue connecting with students.”

The donation, valued at $20,000 in instruments and shipping and distribution costs, allows the district to extend to all 4th grade students what is traditionally an opt-in program. During this time of distance learning, SFUSD students continue to receive arts instruction -- including music, dance, theater, media arts, and visual arts -- from their teachers in a virtual setting, using different online platforms. The district is strengthening its partnerships with Bay Area arts partners that continue to support students’ arts experiences through distance learning and artist residencies. This donation enables the district to build upon the mission of the Visual and Performing Arts Department to provide a quality arts experience for each and every student.

As district teachers and administrators began to think about teaching the opt-in program to students remotely this semester, they were able to reconsider what and how they taught instrumental music, in the absence of sufficient instruments for all students at home. 

“Since the onset of the pandemic, we have looked for ways to support our nonprofit partners with pre-existing StubHub Foundation funding already earmarked for supporting our social impact mission,” said Akshay Khanna, general manager of North America for StubHub. “We were more than eager to support the SFUSD when we heard about the opportunity to expand and implement a remote music education program for their entire fourth grade class across 72 schools. This is the very reason we’ve supported Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation for over five years.”

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