During the first Board Meeting of 2018, the Irvine Company presented IUSD with a check for $2 million as part of the Excellence in Education Enrichment Fund grant, which supports art, music and science education for Irvine Unified School District students in grades four through six.
In September 2016, Mr. Donald Bren and the Irvine Company announced that they would renew the Excellence in Education Enrichment Fund grant with an additional $20 million over the next 10 years, bringing the Irvine Company’s commitment to IUSD students and families to more than $45 million.
Each year, more than 7,000 students are positively impacted by the Enrichment Fund. To date, this unprecedented support has benefited nearly 80,000 IUSD students.
Robin Leftwich, Vice President of Community Affairs for the Irvine Company, presented this year’s check to the IUSD Board of Education and to IUSD students. While introducing the Woodbridge High School Chamber Singers, many of whom have benefited from the Irvine Company funds in elementary school, Leftwich said, "Tonight we get to see what happens when you find your passion in 4th, 5th and 6th grade and then once you get to middle school and high school and you can really develop it." The Chamber Singers performed Ivan Hrusovsky’s Rytmus, which was directed by Woodbridge High School music and vocal teacher, Rob Blaney.
Board President Sharon Wallin expressed the District’s gratitude for the generous donation, which has sustained critical educational opportunities in IUSD. Superintendent Terry Walker stated that the Enrichment Fund has had a lasting and positive impact for IUSD students.
Established in 2006, the Excellence in Education Enrichment Fund pays for specialists to work in IUSD’s fourth through sixth-grade classrooms. Students receive two 60-minute science lessons per week, two 40-minute music lessons per week and six hour-long art lessons per year, all taught by highly qualified instructors.
The program has been extremely popular in IUSD, enabling schools to preserve and continue hands-on courses that may have been lost due to budget cuts.
Video of Woodbridge High School Chamber Singers' Performance
PDF of the Excellence in Education Enrichment Fund Annual Report 2017-18