EL, MS, HS Band Director
For Julia Stone, music education is inseparable from purpose. Now in her second year at Vacaville Christian School, she brings both passion and intentionality to her work with band and choir students across elementary and middle school.
Her teaching philosophy is deeply rooted in meaning. “My teaching style mirrors my motivation for education: a deep sense of purpose,” she shares. “Music teaches you about existence, yourself, and most of all, about things that are beyond you.” For Ms. Stone, music is not simply a subject to be learned, but an experience that shapes identity, discipline, and wonder.
Faith sits at the very center of her classroom. “God is always after the one,” she explains. “I believe that if one student, out of the hundreds I teach, experiences Jesus through the magic of music, then I have done my job.” This perspective informs both her instruction and her daily interactions with students.
“If one student experiences Jesus through the magic of music, then I have done my job.”
Inspired by the words of worship theologian Dr. Stephen Martin, who writes, “Worship is the moment that Heaven and Earth intersect,” Ms. Stone views her role as creating opportunities for that intersection to take place. Whether through rehearsal, performance, or reflection, her classroom is designed to cultivate both musical growth and spiritual awareness.
Ms. Stone’s academic journey reflects a unique and disciplined path. She was homeschooled through the Classical Conversations curriculum before transitioning to community college at age fifteen, earning her associate’s degree alongside her high school diploma. She later attended Azusa Pacific University, graduating cum laude at the age of twenty one.
Students quickly come to appreciate Ms. Stone’s relational teaching style, often noting her lighthearted humor and propensity to tease as part of her classroom trademark. Outside of school, she enjoys writing music and playing in bands, continuing to live out the creativity she encourages in her students.
This year, she also had the opportunity to mentor high school students during speech competitions, an experience she describes as both meaningful and rewarding.
While music fills the classroom, Ms. Stone’s deeper mission remains clear: to help students experience beauty, purpose, and ultimately, Christ through the discipline and joy of music.
