Music
Vocal Music in the Classroom (Grades K-5)
All Alamo students participate in a weekly music lesson in the classroom with music educator/composer Kat Sena. We learn, through singing, about all aspects of Musicianship; pitch, rhythm, expression , and how to use our voices correctly. We also learn about great composers, conducting, and music history. Our classroom music time is a special time to connect and share happiness through singing and learning songs together.
Elementary Instrumental Music Program (Grades 4-5)
All SFUSD Elementary Schools are allocated an elementary music teacher to teach violin, flute, trumpet and clarinet once a week. The students are taken out of their regular classroom time for a group lesson. Students rent or purchase an instrument to use for this program. A limited number of instruments are available based on financial need.
Monica Perry is our awesome instructor at Alamo. She comes from a family of musicians. She started piano when she was five and then switched to the violin in the 4th grade. She graduated from the School of Music at Indiana University with degrees in Violin, Performance, and Literature. She enjoys teaching children and performing all types of music from classical to jazz.
San Francisco Symphony – Adventures in Music (Grades 1-5)
Adventures in Music (AIM) is an interdisciplinary program that integrates live music performances and related music education experience with everyday classroom lessons in language arts, social studies and other subjects.
- AIM includes in-school presentations by music ensembles, specially designed classroom curriculum, classroom materials, and a visit to Davies Symphony Hall for a private concert by the San Francisco Symphony.
- San Francisco’s public elementary schoolchildren receive five consecutive years of music education through the San Francisco Symphony’s AIM program.
Dance
Nagata Dance (Grade K-1)
Ms. Nagata’s dance programs offer classes that enhance student coordination, self-confidence and self-expression. Dance classes are fun, lively and engaging as children practice positive behavior, learn to become part of an “organic” whole (work together) and express themselves in new and empowering ways.Ms. Nagata combines a number of dance styles – Jazz, Hip Hop, Ballet and Creative Movement to engage a wide variety of students in order to inspire their curiosity and participation. At the end of a program, students will have worked together in a nurturing, structured and creative environment and will have successfully and happily captures all the moves in a given dance piece.
Ms. Corrine Nagata’s role as a teacher and contributor to the world renowned Alvin Ailey American School of Dance, The National Dance Institute with Jacques D’Amboise’s and the Dance Theater of Harlem has prepared her well for teaching all forms of dance and at all levels to a wide variety of students. Whether teaching master classes at Stanford University, School of the Arts (S.O.T.A) or beginner’s classes at The Children’s Dance Institute in Idaho or at Public School 241 in Harlem, Ms. Nagata’s skill, insight and professionalism have been highly praised at every level. She is a current member of the Isadora Duncan Dance Awards Committee and is on faculty at LINES Ballet’s Bachelors of Fine Art Program and A.C.T’s Masters Degree Program. Her dance program, NAGATA Dance, services nearly a dozen public and private schools in San Francisco.
San Francisco Ballet – Dance in Schools and Communities
Established in 1979, Dance in Schools and Communities (DISC) was created in response to an expressed need for arts instruction in the public schools that would also provide a means of access, education, and opportunity for students of diverse cultural backgrounds. DISC currently provides a free interactive movement program to over 3,500 students in 38 San Francisco Unified School District Elementary Schools.
DISC teaches about dance and music from around the world. Students learn the fundamentals of dance movement as well as authentic classical and folkloric dances appropriate for children. Specific learning goals are set in accordance with both California and national standards for learning in the arts.
DISC also offers a scholarship program for continued study at the San Francisco Ballet School for approximately 65 new students recruited from the in-school program annually. Of the current student enrollment in the San Francisco Ballet School, 25 percent are current and former DISC students.