Our Programs

Education Through Music - Bay Area (ETM-Bay Area) forms long-term partnerships with Bay Area schools that serve children in disadvantaged areas and lack school-wide music programs. These partnerships provide weekly, skills- and standards-based music instruction to every child attending a partner school, and provide supporting services such as training, professional development, leadership guidance, assessment, and capacity building to teaching artists, teachers, principals and parents. ETM-Bay Area also provides professional development and consulting services to organizations and schools, both locally and across the country, to help them improve music education in their own communities. Our program is based on the successful ETM® model which began in 1991 in New York City.

Underlying our programs and services is the philosophy that learning in music is as fundamental to the growth of children as learning in math, science, and literacy. The goal for education, especially at the elementary levels, is to provide a balance of experiences and opportunities that enables children to acquire as many intellectual, emotional, and social skills as possible, as deeply and thoroughly as possible.

ETM-Bay Area believes that:

• All children benefit from having music as part of their regular studies
• Children benefit most when their music education features the same rigor as other academic subjects, specifically: high-quality teaching and professionalism among music faculty; strong leadership; a comprehensive and sequential curriculum; and accountability for student learning outcomes
• School leaders and communities who are aware of the value of music education to their children will find a way to implement and institutionalize a well-balanced curriculum that includes music for all children.