The Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture will award arts grants totaling $811,600 to 40 L.A. County school districts, including the Mountain View, Newhall and Sulfur Springs School Districts and iLead Charter Schools in the Santa Clarita Valley.

The Advancement Grant Program is administered through the L.A. County Arts Education Collective, the countywide initiative dedicated to making the arts a core part of every child’s growth and development.

Advancement Grants, underwritten by the Arts Ed Collective Funders Council, offer flexible funding to school districts, and are matched by school district funds. Leveraging public and private resources, they will invest more than $1.6 million this year to expand access to instruction in dance, media arts, music, theater, and visual arts.

School districts use Advancement Grants to implement district-wide arts education in a range of ways: arts integration, professional development and resources for teachers, social-emotional learning in the arts, arts classes, and musical instrument purchases for at-home instruction.

To address data showing disparities in access to the arts, Advancement Grants promote equity with priority points for school districts serving large student populations of 10,000 or greater, and those with an Unduplicated Pupil Count of 71% or greater which includes students eligible for Free and Reduced Priced Meals, foster youth, and English language learners.

A complete list of the 40 school district grantees (including four charter school networks) is below.

“We are proud to provide Advancement Grants with an eye toward increasing equity and access in arts education for the benefit of our County youth,” said Kristin Sakoda, Director of Arts and Culture. “In this unprecedented time, the human connection, educational engagement, wellbeing, and creative expression that the arts provide is more important than ever. We are deeply grateful for our school district, philanthropy, and County partners as we collectively work to ensure opportunities for students to create and thrive.”

“Investing in the future for Los Angeles County’s children is imperative, especially now,” said Supervisor Kathryn Barger, Chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. “These Advancement Grants support a well-rounded education and help school districts lay the foundation to careers in the arts and the creative economy. We want every person in Los Angeles County to have access to the breadth, depth, and diversity of the arts to enrich their childhood and foster their creativity into adulthood.”

“We know that learning is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor, so as educators throughout Los Angeles County innovate their operations in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have an obligation to support customized learning initiatives that equip students with invaluable creative skills,” said Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. “The Advancement Grants will be used for initiatives designed by the school districts themselves, as they know how to best reach their communities and be attentive to gaps and inequities in resources.”

Here’s the complete list of 2020-21 Arts Education Collective Advancement Grant recipients:

* Alhambra Unified School

* Antelope Valley Union High School District

* Arcadia Unified School District

* Azusa Unified School District

* Baldwin Park Unified School District

* Burbank Unified School District

* Centinela Valley Union High School District

* Claremont Unified School District

* Compton Unified School District

* Covina-Valley Unified School District

* Culver City Unified School District

* El Monte Union High School District

* El Rancho Unified School District

* Garvey Elementary School District

* Glendora Unified School District

* Hacienda La Puente Unified School District

* Hawthorne School District

* Hughes-Elizabeth Lakes Union

* iLead Charter Network

* Inner City Education Foundation

* Keppel Union School District

* Lawndale Elementary School District

* Lynwood Unified School District

* Magnolia Public Schools

* Monrovia Unified School District

* Montebello Unified School District

* Mountain View School District

* Newhall School District

* Norwalk La Mirada Unified School District

* Paramount Unified School District

* Pasadena Unified School District

* Pomona Unified School District

* Rosemead School District

* San Gabriel Unified School District

* South Pasadena Unified School District

* Sulphur Springs Union School District

* Walnut Valley Unified School District

* Whittier City School District

* Whittier Union High School District

* Wiseburn School District

About the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture and the Arts Ed Collective

The mission of the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture is to advance arts, culture, and creativity throughout Los Angeles County. It provides leadership, services, and support in areas including grants and technical assistance for nonprofit organizations, countywide arts education initiatives, commissioning and care for civic art collections, research and evaluation, pathways to the creative economy, professional development, free community programs, and cross-sector creative strategies that address civic issues. For more information, visit lacountyarts.org

The L.A. County Arts Education Collective is the countywide initiative dedicated to making the arts a core part of every child’s growth and development. Starting with just one school district in each Supervisorial District nearly two decades ago, the Arts Ed Collective now includes a robust coalition of partners that represents more than 72 school districts, 5 charter school networks and hundreds of community-based arts organizations, teaching artists, educators, philanthropists, and advocates.

The initiative is coordinated by the LA County Department of Arts and Culture, is supported by curriculum and instructional services provided by the LA County Office of Education, and is guided by a Leadership Council and an active Funders Council who continue to invest in this formidable movement for arts education across Los Angeles County. It is recognized as a national model of collective impact in arts education.

For more information and a list of philanthropic funders, visit lacountyartsedcollective.org.