The Gift of Music at Spring Valley School

Music is a key component to the whole-child approach to a Spring Valley School (SVS) education. Hannah Creel, our wonderful music teacher at Spring Valley School, shared what makes music essential to the development of SVS students.  

There are countless connections between music instruction and learning differences. The world of music opens all kinds of neural pathways in the brain that allow students to discover new vocabulary words, explore their creative side to a higher degree, sharpen their auditory processing skills, and more. It encourages students to see their learning differences as a strength, not a weakness.   

“People with learning differences have more advantages when it comes to music because they are able to think in different ways,” Hannah explained.  

Music is also vital to the cognitive development of students at SVS. Being in a classroom where students hear new sounds and learn foreign words motivates them to process what they are hearing and ask questions when they do not understand. Students sharpen skills such as auditory memory when learning to match pitch or expand their emotional connections when asked to connect a certain song with a memory they have. Hannah explains that the skills learned in music class ultimately allow students to grow in their confidence as well as leadership skills.

Music class is different at SVS compared to other schools because it focuses more on one-on-one instruction or small-group instruction. Hannah aims for each week to focus on a specific component of music so that she can invest time in her students and content. Her goal is to foster creativity in the classroom while ensuring the class structure is working for all students.  

The SVS community is grateful for dedicated and passionate teachers like Hannah!