School Days: Morgan Hill Unified School District
Visual and Performing Arts
Alive in our Schools
By Kimberly Beare, PIO, Morgan Hill Unified School District
T
he Visual and Performing Arts are instrumental to our
students’ success in their academics, their careers, and
their lives. Enriching and making these curricula more
accessible level is a top priority for the Morgan Hill Unified
School District (MHUSD).
Over the past several years, Dr. Ramon Zavala, MHUSD
Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services has
championed the enhancement and integration of the Visual
and Performing Arts (VAPA) to improve student achievement
districtwide. Zavala and his team have been collaborating
closely with CREATE CA (a Statewide Arts Education Coalition),
the Santa Clara County Office of Education (Artspiration—
an Arts Education Initiative), and the California Alliance for
Arts Education (CAAE), in order to achieve this goal for our
district schools.
The 21 st century workforce is expected to possess not only
technical knowhow but also creative communication skills,
particularly in film and video. The U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics reports a 14 percent increase in digital media and
design jobs alone.
And so, while many public schools feel pressure to
reduce or in worst cases eliminate the arts from their master
schedules, MHUSD is heading in opposite direction. Last June,
the MHUSD Board of Education approved an arts resolution,
Achieving Equity and Opportunity in Arts Learning, paving
the way for our Education Services Department to enhance
and strengthen arts programs in every one of our schools.
This year, art teachers convened for district-wide
professional development days and are being represented
by a newly-formed district VAPA Curriculum Committee.
Recently, MHUSD contracted CAAE to assist with developing
a district VAPA Strategic Plan. Engaging various stakeholders