Welcome to the choir program at FVMS. We're so glad you are here!

The choir program at FVMS focuses on connection through musical expression. In the choir room, we are striving for musical excellence, person accountability, teamwork, confidence, and self-expression in a healthy manner. The goal is for the FVMS choir students to come together to learn, make music, and enjoy the creative process in a safe environment where every child supports one another. Like Greg Gilpin said, this takes trust. I run my classroom with care and compassion; and the overarching goal of helping create better humans through the process of music making.

My child wants to do sports/take AIG classes/take other electives, why should we consider a music class?

I welcome children who "do it all" into my classroom, please don't let scheduling issues prevent you from signing up for chorus! See below for academic reasons to participate in music.

• Children who study music tend to have larger vocabularies and more advanced reading skills than their peers who do not participate in music lessons (Arete Music Academy. "Statistical benefits of music in education.")

• Schools that have music programs have an attendance rate of 93.3% compared to 84.9% in schools without music programs (The National Association for Music Education. "Music Makes the Grade."

• Everyday listening skills are stronger in musically-trained children than in those without music training. Significantly, listening skills are closely tied to the ability to: perceive speech in a noisy background, pay attention, and keep sounds in memory (Strait, D.L. and N. Kraus, Biological impact of auditory expertise across the life span: musicians as a model of auditory learning. Hearing Research, 2013.)

• Children with learning disabilities or dyslexia who tend to lose focus with more noise could benefit greatly from music lessons (Arete Music Academy. "Statistical benefits of music in education." Arete Music Academy. Accessed July 17, 2014).

• Researchers found that after two years, children who not only regularly attended music classes, but also actively participated in the class, showed larger improvements in how the brain processes speech and reading scores than their less-involved peers (Nina Kraus, director of Northwestern’s Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, quoted in Melissa Locker, "This Is How Music Can Change Your Brain," Time, December 16, 2014).