We ❤️ Music in Our Schools

A key part of the Pacifica Education Foundation’s longstanding mission is to give every student access to high-quality music education. That’s why we provide significant funding for the elementary and middle school music programs in the Pacifica School District (PSD).

Music is a powerful tool for learning and personal growth. Research shows that music instruction boosts memory, attention, and spatial-temporal skills while also nurturing social and emotional development. Through music instruction and practice, students build capabilities in persistence, discipline, and patience, and they learn how to watch and listen for instruction and to work as a group. Music also opens a window to the world, fostering cultural awareness and respect by introducing children to diverse instruments and traditions from around the globe.

In 2022, PEF partnered with the PSD to expand music instruction from the 3rd to 5th graders to include TK through second grade too. Now, all elementary school kids attend weekly sessions throughout the school year, covering everything from musical instruments to vocal performance, music notation and theory. For the 2025-26 school year, PEF is proud to continue providing the funding for one of the program’s two music teachers as well as the additional supplies needed to keep the program thriving.

Music Teacher Dylan Benander teaching percussion instruments to a third grade class.

We recently caught up with one of PSD’s two elementary music teachers, Dylan Benander, who shared their view on why music in schools is so important and what is most rewarding about working with students:

"Music instruction is important for a variety of reasons. Some of them are cognitive, as musical training has been scientifically linked to better cognitive function, and it teaches universally applicable concepts like motor skills, pattern recognition, and cultural analysis. It also gives students a class each week that is a change to their usual day-to-day schoolwork which allows them to recharge for the other disciplines. The most important reason in my opinion, however, is that music making is an important part of the human experience.

"My favorite thing about teaching music is watching the moment when students finally "get" a concept. Music is a joy, but it can also be a finicky discipline that requires a lot of practice and repetition. When a student finally understands a concept or improves their sound in a way that had previously eluded them, I feel like what I do is really making a difference. I especially love when the students can hear the difference in their own sound and are able to track their own improvement."

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Thank you, Dylan, for all that you do for the students. And thanks to the entire community for the support of music education in Pacifica! We hope you’re as proud as we are to help bring the joy and benefits of music to students across the PSD.