COMPTON UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT AND JUILLIARD EMBARK ON AN UNPRECEDENTED MULTI-YEAR ARTS PARTNERSHIP
Juilliard-Led Professional Development, Teaching Resources, and Student
Mentorship Opportunities Build on Shared Commitment to Arts Education and Student Success
COMPTON, CA—Compton Unified School District (CUSD) is proud to announce a groundbreaking multi-year relationship with The Juilliard School that celebrates and furthers CUSD’s work in strengthening student pathways for artistic exploration and subject-specific professional development for teachers. Together, the organizations have built a new model that brings collaborative professional learning resources to CUSD’s performing arts educators as well as student mentorship opportunities with industry professionals and members of the Juilliard community and alumni network.
“We are absolutely ecstatic to be partnering with an arts organization of such unparalleled caliber as Juilliard. They indeed are the gold standard in arts education, synonymous with excellence, creativity, and achievement at the highest level,” said Micah Ali, President of the Compton Unified Board of Trustees. “For Compton Unified to partner with such a prestigious institution is emblematic of our commitment to providing world-class arts education. We are setting the stage for our scholars to thrive artistically, academically, and beyond.” “In Compton, we recognize that the arts are not just an enrichment—they are essential to a student’s growth, building confidence, discipline, and creativity,” said Dr. Darin Brawley, Superintendent of Compton Unified. “Our partnership with Juilliard is more than an opportunity; it is a game-changer—elevating our scholars to the same level of excellence and world-class instruction as the most elite programs in the world.”
This partnership expands Juilliard’s longstanding commitment to working with partners to build new pathways into the performing arts. This two-way learning relationship for both education institutions also showcases the excellence and dedication of CUSD’s dance, drama, and music educators. The four-year program is broken into two areas:
Collaborative Professional Learning for Performing Arts Educators
Student Mentorship and Professional Engagement
Together, they will create enriched learning environments that engage local expertise from the Los Angeles area while broadening artistic opportunities for students and educators alike. “We see this partnership with Compton Unified not just as a program, but as a shared commitment to making artistic excellence accessible to all students,” says Richard Mannoia, Juilliard’s Senior Director of Education and Strategy, K–12 Programs and Initiatives. “Together, we’re building a sustainable model that nurtures creativity and helps activate every child’s intrinsic artistic potential.”
The program will launch in 24 Compton Unified schools and plans to expand district wide in the future. The initiative kicks off in mid-April 2025 and runs through June 2028 and serves Compton Unified scholars from kindergarten through grade 12, supporting the creativity and artistic development of every scholar.
About Compton Unified School District
Compton Unified School District, whose Superintendent is Dr. Darin Brawley, is located in the south-central region of Los Angeles County. CUSD encompasses the city of Compton and portions of the cities of Carson and Los Angeles. The district currently serves more than 17,000 students at 36 sites. CUSD is a district that is elevating, with a high school graduation rate of 93%, dramatic facilities improvements, 88% college acceptance, and a focus on STEAM throughout all schools. The mission of the Compton Unified School District is to empower leaders to lead, teachers to teach, and students to learn by fostering an environment that encourages leaders and teachers to be visionary, innovative, and accountable for the achievement of all students. CUSD schools have received numerous awards, including Golden Bell Awards, National Blue Ribbon School designations, and Top 10 LA Public Schools by Innovate LA. CUSD is also a member of the League of Innovative Schools. The District’s Superintendent, Dr. Darin Brawley, was named 2019 Superintendent of the Year by the Los Angeles County Office of Education. For more information, visit http://www.compton.k12.ca.us
About The Juilliard School
Founded in 1905, The Juilliard School is a world leader in performing arts education. The school’s mission is to provide the highest caliber of artistic education for gifted musicians, dancers, and actors, composers, choreographers, and playwrights from around the world so that they may achieve their fullest potential as artists, leaders, and global citizens. Led by President Damian Woetzel since 2018, Juilliard is guided in all its work by the core values of excellence; creativity; and equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging (EDIB). Juilliard is committed to enrolling the most talented students regardless of their financial background.
Located at Lincoln Center in New York City, Juilliard offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in dance, drama (acting and playwriting), and music (classical, jazz, historical performance, and vocal arts). Currently more than 800 artists from 43 states and 44 countries and regions are enrolled in Juilliard’s College Division, where they appear in more than 700 annual performances in the school’s five theaters; at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully and David Geffen halls and at Carnegie Hall; as well as at other venues around New York City, the country, and the world. The continuum of learning at Juilliard also includes nearly 400 students from elementary through high school enrolled in the Preparatory Division, including Pre-College and the Music Advancement Program (MAP), which serves students from diverse backgrounds often underrepresented in the classical music field. More than 800 students are enrolled in Juilliard Extension, the flagship continuing education program taught both in person and remotely by a dedicated faculty of performers, creators, and scholars. Beyond its New York campus, Juilliard is defining new directions in performing arts education for a range of learners and enthusiasts through a global K-12 educational curricula as well as precollege and graduate studies at The Tianjin Juilliard School in China.
juilliard.edu @juilliardschool
CONTACTS:
John Stouffer
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Clarissa Meléndez
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