Mission

Education Through Music-Massachusetts (ETM-MA) partners with under-resourced schools to provide music as a core subject for all children, and utilizes music education as a catalyst to improve academic achievement, motivation for school, and self-confidence. We launch new music programs at schools that need us most, build and strengthen music programs that exist, and support all programs we work with to become sustainable and transformative in their school community.

Vision

Education Through Music-Massachusetts believes that every child deserves access to high-quality music education, taught by qualified, well-trained, full-time union music teachers. If properly developed and integrated into the school, a great music program has the power to: support learning in other subjects like math, science, and language arts, to support the school in building better bonds with its parent community, to become a regularly and important part of the school culture, and support other areas for overall school transformation. We are committed to keeping music alive in all MA schools, starting in Boston.

Research shows that when music education is provided as part of the core curriculum, students have more motivation for school and experience an increase for both their self-confidence and their capacity to learn.  

But access to music education is not equal.

Music is still not a guaranteed part of a student’s curriculum. There are many schools in Massachusetts where funding and a lack of resources have caused significant barriers for schools to overcome in order to provide comprehensive music programs for our children.

Education Through Music-Massachusetts is knocking down those barriers and striving to bring music education to all students in Massachusetts.

ETM-MA partners with under-served public schools and lays the groundwork for sustainable music education programs.  We provide and support music teachers to ensure that every child in the school receives music education with a high-quality curriculum.   

By partnering with under-resourced schools without music programming, ETM-MA makes music education a reality for thousands of children who would otherwise have limited or no access to music education. Our programming uses evidence-informed strategies that address the difficulties of implementing and sustaining a comprehensive school music program.

All children deserve a well-rounded education that should include music education.

Education Through Music – MA, was founded in 2019 by former Boston Public School (BPS) Music Teacher Adam Calus. We started our work in BPS in Fall of 2020. Faced with the challenge of supporting music programs in BPS in one of the most difficult school years in history, we decided to slowly build organizational capacity and support music teachers with guidance, supplies, and other resources as needed while schools were closed and other challenges due to the pandemic continued. 

We started our regular programming in Spring of 2021, with a handful of instruments working with about 200 students each week over zoom and are now proud to be supporting 3 music programs, have provided over 1,000 instruments and other music making tools to the district, and are currently reaching over 1,500 students with access to high quality music education each week. We are on track this year to be in 4-6 schools soon, reaching over 2,500 students by the school year 2023-2024. 

Education Through Music – MA is a part of the Education Through Music national affiliate network, with other affiliates located in New York, Los Angeles, and Colorado. We are a separate 501(c)3 nonprofit entity that raises and manages its own funds and has a distinct executive leadership team and board of directors. We are proud to implement a variation of the ETM-Model in Boston Public Schools. Our organization receives regular collaborative support from Education Through Music, utilizing their 30 years of experience creating music programs for schools that need them most in New York so that every child in Massachusetts can have access to quality music education.