All the following arts programs are integrated into the school day and are part of the curriculum for students in those grades.

Dance

Fourth Grade World Dance
Through a partnership with Santa Monica College, dance faculty from the college provide cultural dance lessons to all fourth-grade students. There will be a total of four lessons in either dance genre. All dances are of authentic origin, and students will learn about the geography, culture, and influences that make these genres so unique.

Fifth Grade Jazz Musical Theater Dance
Through a partnership with Santa Monica College, dance faculty from the college provide twenty lessons in American Jazz/Musical Theater Style Dance, which is a dance genre that can be learned and performed with proper social distancing. Students will learn about what makes this style uniquely American, including the multicultural influences. Each class will consist of a dance warm-up and lessons in jazz technique, including chassé, ball change, pivot turn, and leap. Each lesson will focus on learning, practicing, and refining a choreography in both Jazz dance and Hip-Hop dance. Students will perform choreography from the historic musical “West Side Story,” as well as a short choreography of Hip-Hop, which will include both set choreography and student improvisation.

Performances: The last class of each session will culminate in a performance for parents.

Music

Spanish Music (PreK-2)

Funded by the school, Edison PreK-2nd students receive music classes in Spanish provided by Ms. Jacqueline Fuentes. Beautiful, diverse songs from Latin America, as well as the use of instruments and body movements, foster the love of music while developing language skills in Spanish. Students learn about rhythm, melody, harmony, form, and expressive qualities while improving their Spanish skills.

District Music (3-5)

All 3rd-grade students are taught General Music weekly for 40 minutes. All 4th and 5th graders choose either choir, string instruments, or wind instruments and are taught twice a week during the school day. Classes are 40 minutes each. The ten elementary music teachers are credentialed and are funded by the district. Many music classes are offered at all the middle and high schools.

Dream Music Support (4-5)

The Santa Monica Education Foundation, the Gail Dorin Music Foundation, and the Ella Fitzgerald Foundation fund the Dream Strings, Dream Winds, and Dream Voice programs at the four Title I elementary schools and at two of the middle schools to support students whose families cannot afford additional music instruction. 48% of all K-12 students participate in the district's music program!

Performances: Primary students perform in the winter in a private performance for their parents called an informance during music class time.  K-2nd graders will have a concert performance at Noche de Cesar Chavez.  3rd graders have winter and spring informance during class time.  4th and 5th graders have a winter and spring concert and the opportunity to perform in the annual district-wide “Stairway of the Stars” concert.

Theatre

Theater Arts in Spanish (PreK-5)

PS Arts provides theater instruction TK-5 in Spanish at Edison.  Our theater teacher, Martha Ramirez Oropeza, brings a wealth of knowledge from the teatro campesino tradition and creates fun and culturally relevant plays for our students to perform. Lessons are tied to Performing Arts Standards and ELA and Social Studies Standards, fostering students' listening and speaking skills while developing self-esteem and confidence.

Performances:  Private performances for parents occur during theater class time at the end of the first semester for grades TK-4.  Our 5th graders have a formal performance on the stage in front of a full audience at the end of the semester.

Visual Arts

Visual Arts in Spanish (PreK-5)

Our talented theater teacher, Martha Ramirez Oropeza, is also an accomplished visual artist and muralist.  Her murals can be seen in Mexico, in and around Los Angeles, and on the Edison campus.  When theater classes end, she provides visual arts instruction to all of our students (PreK-5), featuring art from four different regions of Latin America to help students learn about diverse MesoAmerican, South American, and Caribbean cultures and create works of art that reflect the styles of those cultures and some of their iconic artists.

Exhibitions:  A visual arts exhibition will occur at the end of the spring semester for all grades.