“It was another great day for us,” says Joel Valle, director of the Nueva Vision Community School.
The church started the music school in 2005 as a way of reaching out to youth in the community. “We felt the need of the kids and young people to do something to stay away from the drugs and violence,” says Valle.
The school has grown to more than 75 students ranging in age from four to 20, says Valle. It offers lessons in piano, acoustic and electric guitar, bass guitar, drums, saxophone, and violin. The school also offers a class in calligraphy.
The church of 120 people is blessed with an abundance of musicians who teach classes that are held each Monday. The school provides some of the instruments to children who cannot afford them.
Students pay between $10 and $50 a month, depending on financial need and the availability of scholarship funds from donors, Valle says.
“Sixty percent of the kids come from the community,” Valle says. “The most important thing is we are creating communication with the kids. We are building relationships.”
The church is working to gain 501c3 status for the school so funds can be more easily raised.
For more information or to help sponsor the school, call 818-710-9934.
