Irvine Company presents latest installment of $20M pledge for art, music and science

The selection of a new president wasn't the only big news at Tuesday night's Board of Education meeting. A representative from the Irvine Company was also on hand to present IUSD with the sixth installment of its pledge of more than $20 million over 10 years for enriched curriculum in art, science and music.

Robin Leftwich, vice president of Community Affairs for the Irvine Company, personally delivered the check for $2.15 million to the board, pushing the company's cumulative contribution past $12 million. Leftwich pointed out that there are still four more checks to come. Established in 2006, the Excellence in Education Enrichment Fund generously pays for specialists to work in IUSD’s fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade classrooms. Students receive two 60-minute science lessons per week taught, two 40-minute music lessons per week and six hourlong art lessons per year, all taught by instructors who are highly qualified under the definition established by the No Child Left Behind Act. Each year, IUSD also produces a detailed report assessing the value of the enriched curriculum. (You can access a PDF of that report by clicking here.) Leftwich -- she's pictured above, along with Irvine's four student board members and Superintendent Terry Walker -- called the data in this year's report "stunning," noting that Irvine students are consistently outperforming their state counterparts on science standards tests and other key indicators. "Irvine students are far and away performing above county, state and, in many cases, global student populations," she said.