Education Through Music Announces
The Addition of Three New Partner Schools:
Program Now Bringing Music Education to Over 9,000 At-Risk Children in NYC Alone!
Education Through Music, Inc. (ETM), a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing comprehensive music instruction to inner-city children, is thrilled to announce the addition of three partner schools in New York City, bringing the total number of ETM partner schools in New York to twenty. Starting in September 2008, ETM's music programming will be implemented in P.S. 83 and St. Mark the Evangelist, elementary schools that are both located in Harlem, as well as PS 256, located in the Bedford- Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. The addition of these schools bring the total number of ETM partner schools to eight in Manhattan, ten in the Bronx, and two in Brooklyn, which together serve over 9,000 at-risk students who would otherwise have limited or no exposure to the arts in school.
P.S. 83, PS 256, and St. Mark the Evangelist together serve over 1,200 children in grades Pre-Kindergarten through fifth (St. Mark serves grades Pre-K through 8th). Every child at these schools, including those in Special Education, will receive weekly music instruction in general music and recorder from an ETM-trained teaching artist. ETM's newest partner schools embody the organization's mission to provide a standards-based, sequential music education that reinforces essential cognitive skills. Since its founding in 1991, ETM has worked to enhance children's academic performance and general development by promoting and providing the sustainable integration of music into the curricula of inner-city schools. By supporting students' learning in music, ETM strengthens their ability to learn in all areas.
"We are thrilled to partner with three additional inner-city schools to help fulfill their vision of providing a skills-based music curriculum to every single student, regardless of talent or ability," stated Katherine Damkohler, Executive Director of Education Through Music. "As with every one of our partner schools, ETM will demonstrate the powerful role music education can play in education and life-long learning."
About the Schools:
PS 83 is located within a triangular patch of East Harlem that is the lowest-income tract in Manhattan, with 56% of residents living below the poverty line, according to a 2005 Census Report. The school provides an academically demanding instructional program to build character and develop each student's critical thinking and knowledge base in each of the major disciplines, literacy, a humanities approach to social studies, mathematics, science, the arts and physical fitness. PS 83 serves over 400 students, 99% of whom are eligible for the Free or Reduced Lunch Program, as determined by family income. The principal of the school is Frances Castillo.
St. Mark the Evangelist, New York's first all-Black Catholic school, has served the Harlem Community since 1912. It offers students and families a nurturing environment and a strong education emphasizing core academic skills and personal development. St. Mark the Evangelist serves over 250 students and offers minority students a disciplined primary school education. An open admissions policy, a rigorous academic curriculum attentive to African-American heritage, and a teaching of strong values make St. Mark School a place where all children can succeed. The principal of the school is Sr. Catherine Hagan.
PS 256 is located in the Bedford- Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, and serves over 400 students, 84% of whom are eligible for the Free or Reduced Lunch Program, as determined by family income. In order to ensure student success, the school establishes a child-centered environment that focuses on the needs of the children. Parents, teachers, and administrators work together to see that every student succeeds. The principal of the school is Sharyn Hemphill.
About Education Through Music, Inc.
Founded in 1991, Education Through Music, Inc. (ETM) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation that promotes the sustainable integration of music into the curricula – including reading, social studies, math and science – of elementary and middle schools in order to enhance students' academic performance and general development. ETM is unique within the arts-in-education community for our focus on academics and changing the current state of the educational system. ETM's unique methodology engenders systemic changes in teaching practices that help children learn, think and socialize better. ETM works with a variety of groups throughout the country, including individual schools, local and statewide education agencies, and arts and cultural organizations. We serve our partner schools from multiple angles and involve all members of the school community in reforming the school to incorporate the arts. Music is taught in its own right and also as a means of supporting learning in other areas. For more information, visit us at www.ETMonline.org.
