Dear friends, supporters, and investors, Thanks to you, 2014 is finishing with incredible momentum for The People’s Music School! You are making this possible! (Click below for a video message of appreciation from our students). While 2014 was a year of difficult transition, we couldn’t be prouder of how we have risen to the challenges and set the school on solid footing for sustainable growth. You can read more about our progress in my upcoming blog post on my first 100 days. In short, we rallied around 5 meaty goals… and knocked them all out of the park. When I lead tours of our operations, I often hear Rita’s words in my head: “This is The People’s Music School. You are a Person. This is your school – welcome.” This spirit of community, of generosity, of service, infiltrates everything we do – how we teach, how we lead, how we envision the future. With your ongoing support, we will continue to carve out a unique path delivering real access to the benefits of music. We will do so with increasing efficiency and effectiveness. We will do so through innovation and creativity. Our goals include, but go well beyond, high school graduation rates and college admission – we aim to equip our students with the survival toolkit to handle challenges through their lifetimes with grit and grace. “Music is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life bringing peace, abolishing strife” – Khalil Gibran We have much to look forward to in 2015 – new challenges, new solutions, new ways of working. And as we gear up for the new year, we wish you equal amounts of energy, joy, and peace in 2015! Happy new year, Jennifer Kim Matsuzawa
Jessica Esteves, 15 years old, has been studying at The People’s Music School Uptown Academy since she was in 2nd grade. Now a sophomore in high school at Northside College […]