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The Ithaca City School District (ICSD) will host the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA), Zone 3, Solo and Ensemble Festival on May 6 and 7, 2016 at Boynton Middle School. Over 1,512 student musicians come from 9 counties to participate. The Fine Arts Booster Group (FABG), with hundreds of community and student volunteers, helps host this event. Interested volunteers may contact president@fabgithaca.org for information.

This is the fourth year that the ICSD has hosted this event....(read more)

Thanks to Michael Treat for this information, which is also included in the upcoming District Jazz Concert Program April 21, 7:30 p.m. at the Ithaca High School Performing Arts Center.

This concert will have special guest trombonist Melissa Gardiner, made possible by a grant from the Fine Arts Booster Group, an affiliate of IPEI.

The Ithaca School District has a proud history of introducing many young people to Jazz Music. Several Ithaca alumni have continued on to advanced degrees in jazz performance and some are now leading jazz programs at Universities in various parts of the country.

Students can begin learning to play Jazz in middle school. Jazz Ensembles and electives are offered at Boynton and DeWitt....(read more)

30 classes a week, 40 minutes each, reaching 472 children in grades K-5 between 2 schools, all in a 4 day rotation – that is the challenging week in the life of visual art teacher Sarah Locke-Mountin. New York State mandates that visual art be taught once a week in elementary school. In order to meet the challenge of this schedule, the Ithaca City School District (ICSD) visual arts teachers master planning and materials preparation so that students can be empowered with the skills and knowledge of the visual world. The visual arts classroom is a place of project-based learning, where students can use all parts of their brain to first understand visual concepts, develop the confidence to try them out and then synthesize the knowledge to create their individual work....(read more)

The Josh Endo Memorial for Continuing Support of Music Education (JEMM) Fund, a fund of the Ithaca Public Education Initiative (IPEI), recently announced the 2015-16 award of $1,000. JEMM annually supports music education needs with priority for elementary student instrument rental scholarships and secondary student instrumental music group trip scholarships. The IPEI Fund administers JEMM with help from the Fine Arts Booster Group (FABG), an IPEI affiliate. JEMM celebrates the late Josh Endo’s love of music and his music education in the Ithaca City School District (ICSD).

ICSD Chief Administrative Officer David Brown expressed his gratitude for the grant, “The ICSD Music Department humbly accepts the Josh Endo Memorial Fund to help offset rentals for families in need....(read more)