California schools now have more ways than ever to expand access to music and arts education thanks to Expanded Learning Opportunities Program (ELOP) and Proposition 28 (Prop 28) funding. These state initiatives are designed to ensure students of all grade levels experience enrichment that builds creativity, confidence, and community.
At After School Music Academy, we provide turnkey music and performing arts classes that fit directly into ELOP and Prop 28 requirements. Below are examples of the exact programs schools are already implementing across California.
Pop Band
Pop Band introduces students to ukulele, bass boomwhackers, frame drums, and djembe in a fun, high-energy group setting. Students learn chords, rhythms, and popular songs while gaining the confidence to perform as part of an ensemble. The program feels like being in a mini rock group, students experience the excitement of making music together while exploring a variety of instruments.
Benefits: Builds teamwork, boosts confidence through group performance, develops rhythm and motor coordination, and introduces multiple instruments at once. Perfect for TK–6 students under ELOP ratios.
Banda
Banda blends guitar and ukulele, teaching chords, strumming, and rhythm patterns inspired by traditional and contemporary music. Students get hands-on experience with instruments that are widely recognized in Latino culture, while learning songs that connect to their community and heritage.
Benefits: Connects students to cultural heritage while developing fine motor skills, music literacy, and ensemble performance. Banda programs also foster family engagement by bringing community-rooted music into the classroom.
Electric Music Lab
Students explore the world of electronic music using instruments like the Stylophone S1, Stylophone Beat, and Stylosette. They experiment with loops, beats, and sound layering, creating their own tracks in a hands-on “mini studio” environment.
Benefits: Prepares middle and high schoolers for 21st-century careers in audio production and music tech. Supports STEM integration, creativity, and student engagement—especially powerful for older learners who connect with digital music.
Premier Concert Band
Premier Concert Band is an ensemble-based band class with accessible, quality instruments that sound great and are fun to play. This class has instruments representing the woodwind, reed, brass, and percussion families of music. For this program we use the California State Arts Standards for Music Ensembles as well as UDL and Fundamental Based Learning.
Benefits: Students gain confidence, teamwork, and musical literacy while exploring woodwind, brass, reed, and percussion instruments. The program fosters discipline, creativity, and joy through standards-based, inclusive ensemble learning.
Drum Circle
Students come together to explore rhythm, teamwork, and creativity through group drumming. They learn traditional patterns and cultural stories that highlight the power of music as a community practice. Each session blends rhythm-making, reflection, and performance in an interactive, inclusive environment.
Benefits: Encourages collaboration and listening skills, promotes mindfulness and focus, builds confidence through performance, and strengthens social-emotional learning by giving every student a voice in the circle.
Latin Caribbean Drumming
Students learn traditional hand drums and rhythms from across the Caribbean, including salsa, merengue, and other styles rooted in Afro-Latin culture. The class brings energy, danceable beats, and cultural pride into the room.
Benefits: Enhances cross-cultural understanding, builds listening and collaboration skills, and offers students a hands-on way to explore history and heritage.
West African Drumming
Students explore djembes and dun-duns, learning traditional ensemble patterns that emphasize rhythm, unity, and musical dialogue. Call-and-response activities keep students engaged and moving while reinforcing community values.
Benefits: Improves coordination, memory, and teamwork while connecting students to global music traditions. Also introduces community and call-and-response, powerful SEL tools.
Drumline FUNdamentals
Students experience the excitement of drumline with Remo rhythm lid snares and Toca bass drums. They learn stick control, technique, and precision while practicing ensemble rhythm exercises that mimic marching band style.
Benefits: Encourages discipline, precision, and school pride. Drumline programs are popular in both after-school and school-day settings, preparing students for future marching band participation.
Rock Band
Students plug into electric guitar, bass, drums, and keyboard, performing classic and modern rock songs. The class replicates the excitement of being in a real band, teaching students not just music but also stage presence and performance skills.
Benefits: Builds perseverance through practice, encourages leadership and teamwork, and keeps older students engaged by letting them perform music they connect with.
Martial Arts (Enrichment Partner Program)
Students practice martial arts in a structured, supportive environment, focusing on balance, movement, and discipline. Lessons combine fitness, skill development, and respect for self and others.
Benefits: Encourages resilience, self-control, and respect—key SEL outcomes that complement arts learning. Often used in ELOP blocks to provide variety.
Hip-Hop Dance
Students learn choreography to high-energy beats while exploring rhythm, freestyle expression, and stage performance. The class is upbeat and inclusive, giving every student a chance to shine.
Benefits: Builds physical fitness, coordination, and confidence. Hip-hop’s cultural roots also foster inclusion and give students a platform for creativity.
Stomp
A dynamic class that blends dance and sound for a full-body experience. Students explore rhythm through high-energy movement while developing coordination, creativity, and self-expression.
Benefits: Builds rhythm, confidence, and creativity through movement. Perfect for students who thrive with high-energy, full-body enrichment.
Early Childhood Sounds and Shapes
An expressive class where students discover the connection between sound and motion. Through rhythm, music, and creative movement, they learn to express themselves in a healthy way while building confidence, coordination, and social-emotional skills.
Benefits: Encourages self-expression, boosts confidence, and strengthens focus while developing coordination and teamwork. Ideal for students needing both movement and creativity in their day.
California schools have more ways than ever to bring music and arts to students with ELOP and Prop 28 funding. At After School Music Academy, we make it easy; programs are turnkey, high-energy, and ready to roll.
Let’s chat about bringing these programs to your school!