Villa Park High School Receives Funding for Specialized Secondary Programs

ORANGE, CA - May 13, 2016 - Orange Unified School District congratulates Villa Park High School on its recent Specialized Secondary Programs (SSP) grant award of $35,000 from the California Department of Education. The grant funding will allow Villa Park High School to establish a career pathway that includes three new courses and an internship course in Digital Audio Production. The pathway will give students experience using industry standard software, creating high-quality audio projects, and collaborating across disciplines. It will also introduce them to the business side of music production through coursework and class visits by leaders in the music industry.

Villa Park High School selected Digital Audio Production as its emphasis due to strong student interest. The program will prepare students for success in postsecondary education and entry into professional career pathways such as recording engineer, audio technician, mixer, or sound designer for film, television, radio, video games, web interfaces, apps, or any of the vast array of multimedia products in which sound plays a role. The courses will also introduce students to the wide variety of careers available in the music industry at large. From music supervisor artist and repertoire development to marketing and social media management, course sequences in this new pathway will connect students to industry professionals in these fields.

This Digital Audio Production pathway is unlike any other in the District or state. Courses in the pathway include Career Focus Digital Audio, Intermediate Digital Audio Production, The Business of Digital Audio Production and Professional Internship in Audio Production.  All courses will be developed and taught by teachers and industry professionals who have experience in composing and producing music for film and television and teaching music with a strong understanding of digital music applications.

The SSP grant provides start-up funds for the establishment of new, advanced programs in California high schools. The specialized programs are expected to develop standards-based model curricula that promote advanced, in-depth study of a targeted content area. The Legislature intends for SSP to benefit the state economy by having schools located in close proximity to related industries. Funding is available for planning and implementing new programs (www.cde.ca.gov).

For more information on the SSP grant program please see the California Department of Education website at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/gs/hs/sspgen.asp.