Louisa Castrodale
Palm Springs USD Arts Coordinator
CA
Bio
Louisa Castrodale is an educator, published poet and award winning artist. After fifteen years as a classroom teacher for PSUSD, she was named the Teacher on Special Assignment for the Visual and Performing Arts. After seven years of establishing and building programs, Louisa was promoted to Arts Coordinator. In her current position she oversees all supplemental arts programming in art, music, dance, theater and fashion. She is the Chairperson of the Galen Allocation Fund at Rancho Mirage High School. Her mission is to create access to high quality arts experiences for students in Palm Springs Unified School District.
Awards/Presentations
During her tenure, Louisa has been the recipient of the Arts School Network Emerging Leader Award, the Association of California School Administrators Administrator of the Year, the Riverside County Model of Academic Excellence and the Steinway Society Excellence in Music Award. She has been a featured presenter at the National Dropout Prevention Council in Palm Springs, the Model Schools Conference in Nashville, the Arts School Network Conference in Dallas, the National Art Educators Association in New Orleans, the CA Title One Conference in Burlingame, the California Association for Bilingual Educators in San Diego and San Francisco, and at Cal State Fullerton Arts At The Center Conference.
Programs Created and Managed
Palm Springs Art Museum - “Art Within Reach” - all PSUSD third grades
McCallum Theatre - “5th Grade Project” - all PSUSD fifth grades
Steinway Society - Classical music concerts all PSUSD Kindergarten through 2nd grades - Piano and ukulele labs – Music education docents – Early childhood education music clases
Palm Springs Opera Guild - 3 week Opera tour into all PSUSD schools
Red Hot Ballroom - Dance instruction for 3rd-6th grades in 5 ballroom dances
Children’s Discovery Museum - 1st grade program/field trip in science/art
Cabot’s Indian Pueblo Museum - 2nd grade program/field trip in social studies/art
CVREP - Annual play presented for PSUSD middle schools
Desert Art Center - Series of free art classes for middle schools offered twice annually
Lady Lead – Monthly middle school art program, just for girls
Palm Springs Community Concerts - 3 All District concerts for students at the Richards Center for the Arts
Elementary arts programming in Harp, Recorder, Drum Circle, Hand Chime and 2nd Grade Art Classes
Summer Programming - Club Broadway, Project Broadway, DJ Camp, Fashion Camp, Visual Fusion Camp, Red Hot Ballroom Camp, Hip Hop Camp, Art Classes
PSUSD Mural Program - over 110 murals created in schools to date
Art With Heart – Weekly art classes for Alternative Education students
Special Events and Shows
Dia De Los Muertos Art Contest - partnering with Well in the Desert/PS Funeral District
Holiday Banner Contest - partnering with Palm Springs Merchant’s Association and City of Palm Springs
PSUSD Student Art Exhibition - UCR/Palm Desert
Martin Luther King, Jr. and Cesar Chavez Art Contests - City of Palm Springs
PSUSD Student Art Exhibition - College of the Desert
“Spot On” Homage to Kusama Exhibition- SCRAP Gallery
Student Screening Day - Palm Springs International Film Festival
Film Catalog and Student Screening Days - AmDocs Film Festival
Student Volunteers/Photographers and Videographers - El Paseo Fashion
Student Volunteers/Photographers and Videographers - Indian Wells Arts Festival
Student Field Trip/Tour - Desert X
Virginia Waring International Piano Competition – Student Outreach Concerts
Opera Arts – Student Outreach Concerts
Musical Theatre University
This district program for gifted and talented musical theatre students is operated out of Rancho Mirage High School. The after school conservatory was founded by David Green, who is the Artistic Director. The audition only program features after school classes Monday-Thursday afternoons. There is a