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At KIPP Adelante we believe that
music instruction provides not only valuable enrichment but also an alternative
and creative venue for students to succeed, build esteem, and develop
self-discipline.
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 Music
Program |
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A music
program adds an element otherwise unavailable to our students, few of whom
could afford private music lessons.
During the
2005-2006 school year, we were able to add an exciting new element to our
curriculum: a string orchestra program. Under the direction of our
Orchestra Director, Mr. Thomas Duncan, all of our students take orchestra
classes and have learned how to play an instrument. Through KIPP
Adelante's orchestra program, some students have discovered natural
talent, and others have found a new passion.
KIPP
Adelante's first Annual Spring Music Concert was held on June 5, 2006 in
the magical setting of Balboa Park's Spreckles Organ Pavilion. KIPP
Adelante's string orchestra entertained parents, friends, supporters,
staff members, and passers-by with selections from Mozart, Beethoven, and
popular movie soundtracks. |
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Language Academy |
Saturday School |
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We also offer “language academy”
class toward the end of the day through which all students practice their
second (or third) language—French, Arabic, Spanish, Afrikaans, or sign
language. |
Our Saturday School sessions—which
meet monthly—offer educational, safe, and fun opportunities to our students.
Most of our Saturday schools focus on enjoyment of local cultural and
outdoor venues, such as hiking in state parks or participating in a local
beach cleanup. |
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College
Visitation Trips |
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As a
“college-preparatory school,” we also ensure that all students, by the time
they complete the eighth grade, have visited at least 20 different college
campuses. Students visit colleges both during the course of the year and at
our end-of-the-year overnight field lessons, which involve travel to another
city for two or three nights. |
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Los Angeles |
San Francisco |
Pacific Northwest |
Boston |
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In their first year, nearly
all of our current fifth graders visit Los Angeles for three nights,
visiting college campuses (Pepperdine, UCLA, and Occidental), as well as
many cultural and educational venues such as the Museum of Tolerance, the La
Brea Tar Pits, and the Hollywood Museum. |
At the end of their
sixth-grade year, KIPP Adelante students have a chance to travel to San
Francisco to visit San Francisco State University, UC Berkeley, and
Stanford. They were also able to visit Chinatown, Alcatraz Island, and
walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. |
7th grade KIPPsters head to the
terrain of the Pacific Northwest. Students enjoy touring Portland
State University and the University of Washington. This field lesson
also features a visit to Olympic Park Institute (OPI) and to the Experience
Music Project in Seattle. |
In their last year, our 8th grade students travel to Boston, Massachusetts,
where they explore the college campuses of Harvard, Tufts, and Boston
University. Students also visit the Museum of Fine Arts, Museum of Science,
and the Boston Red Sox’s Fenway Park. |
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These
trips are designed not just for their important exposure to college and the
educational venues, but also for invaluable “cultural capital” as they
become aware of aspects of the national culture that they might not
otherwise experience. |
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Community Partnerships |
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  Our
rigorous curriculum is supplemented and reinforced with frequent use of
community resources that expose our students to multiple opportunities to
learn about city and state resources, possible careers, and cultural
diversity. Much of this is facilitated by our proximity to downtown;
frequent “field lessons” are taken in which classes walk to the central
library and other locations. Such opportunities include trips to the Museum
of Man, a screening of an international film at the San Diego Film Festival,
and trips to the San Diego Symphony. As another example, our students
participated in a program sponsored by the San Diego Opera and the La Jolla
Playhouse called “Words in Music.” In this program, professional
playwrights helped our students write their own musical theatre pieces and
compose accompanying music; then, professional actors staged the
performances.
Other community
partnerships have included the Sierra Club’s Inner City Outings program, in
which volunteers attended our science classes for several weeks to help
reinforce specific curricular topics related to a culminating overnight
camping trip in the Anzo Borrego Desert. A final example is a partnership we
have had with the University of California-San Diego’s ArtsBridge program,
in which art students create and present arts instruction. In all of the
above examples, our students gain “real world” exposure and knowledge while
at the same time practicing and testing their classroom curricular lessons;
they also learn about possible career choices and about college life through
their college-student partners.
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Community and Health |
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We ensure student health in several
ways as well, for example in partnering with local agencies to offer
instruction regarding self-esteem and adolescent development and health
issues in programs such as STAR and MARCH (Sisters Together Acting
Responsibly and Males Acting Responsibly for Community and Health). We
further extend this commitment in our school-wide (and inflexible) policy
that all school lunches brought by students must be healthful and not
contain soda, chips, or candy. Additionally, to ensure physical activity and
encourage teamwork and support, our teachers volunteer their time in
coaching our two soccer teams, and a flag-football team. We partner with the
local Girl Scouts troop as well, and regular meetings are held at our
school. |
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Service
Learning |
  One
example of community involvement and service learning is our Beta Club, a
branch of the national honor society of the same name, whose students are
dedicated not just to academic excellence but service to the school and
community as well, for example through their “hats on” day for kids to raise
funds for cancer research. Another example is in the congruence of science
lessons about water conservation and our students’ participation in San
Diego’s “Urban Runoff” race that raises awareness about and funds for water
conservation.
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