District officials are asking parents to fill out a short survey rating their children’s experiences with the visual and performing arts programs at area schools.
The study is part of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District’s participation in the Los Angeles County Arts for All initiative, which seeks to provide every student in every school district quality sequential arts education.
The initiative encourages Arts for All districts to take a series of actions to build a foundation for a strong arts program, including adopting a policy and plan.
The results of the survey will be incorporated into a larger report that will include recommendations for continuous improvement. The report will be presented to the Board of Education at a yet unscheduled time.
“We feel we have a very strong arts program,” Maureen Bradford, the director of educational services, said. “We’re sort of the envy of much of the state and so what we’re trying to do now is figure out how to make (the program) better and more available and accessible to kids.”
Officials were planning on closing the survey at the end of May but have decided to continue it for a few more weeks. Approximately 475 evaluations have been submitted.
It includes questions on how important parents feel certain categories of arts programs — theater, dance and music — are to the overall education of their children.
The survey can be accessed at www.smmusd.org.
