The following letter was sent to the South Kitsap School Board of Directors by parents Brett and Isabel Schneider:

Thank you for allowing a violin program to be at my son and daughter’s school! My family is fortunate to have an amazing violin program at Sidney Glen Elementary.

My family has also been fortunate to have our son, who is a second grader, and our daughter, who is a first grader, play the violin for two years in a row.

My husband and I have been extremely impressed at the speed that they have learned the violin using the Suzuki Method.

Our families and friends have greatly enjoyed coming to our violin concerts and we look forward to many more to come.

It is a great accomplishment to have a violin program in four elementary schools in addition to the middle and high schools.

Having the violin program has been valuable to our family because it has taught our son and daughter that with hard work and dedication, anything is possible.

While our family is a sample size of only two, the improvement (with well above-grade test scores) of our son and daughter in math is in agreement with the recent science that shows a link between learning music and math skills.

We hope that the South Kitsap school board continues to allow this valuable program to expand to the remaining five elementary schools.

Watching our children grow in violin can only be a success with the dedication of our school board and families who are willing to give them the tools and support to be successful.

Brett and Isabel Schneider

Port Orchard