Education Through Music-Colorado

When faced with budget constraints, our public schools are often forced to discontinue music education. And so it happens that thousands of children, right here in Colorado, miss an extraordinary learning and self-expression opportunity in the most important years of their lives. Help us to bring the joyful sounds of music back to school!

WHO WE ARE

Education Through Music-Colorado (www.etmcolorado.org) is a non-profit organization founded in Denver in 2018. We partner with under-resourced public schools to provide music as a core subject for all children.  Music education is a powerful catalyst to improve self-confidence, motivation, and academic achievement.

We focus our efforts on Title I schools in low-income neighborhoods, where the free and reduced lunch student program population is greater than 82%. And we guarantee that every student, including those with special needs, has access to music education. Currently our resources allow us to serve 2,000 ECE-8 students (88% belong to minority groups). But there are more than 3,000 other children waiting for our program to be implemented in their school.

Watch this 3 minute video to understand what students, teachers and principals experience in our program.

OUR NATIONAL NETWORK

Education Through Music (ETM) is a national nonprofit network that began operating over 30 years ago in New York, and then expanded to Los Angeles, Boston and Denver. Since its foundation, more than 300,000 students have studied music, and through it, how to express themselves. Our recent national campaign has been paired with the launch of the animated musical movie Sing 2: we have partnered with the band U2, Illumination, Universal Pictures and Republic Records to raise awareness about the life-changing power of music. 

WHY IS MUSIC EDUCATION SO IMPORTANT?

The downsizing of school budgets too often results in the elimination of music programs, despite its proven importance in children's growth. Our thirty years of work and research show that MUSIC: enhances reading, writing, and math skills; boosts social and emotional capacities; develops teamwork, listening, and reflexes; improves academic achievement; increases parental and community engagement; fosters a multicultural environment. 

87% of teachers agree that music increases school engagement. 83% of children say that music classes make them like school more (Source: ETM Los Angeles Impact Study 2021).

A TRUE STORY

Jose is a changed name, but his story is true. He was a very guarded child: one of those who kept to himself in classes and during lunch at school. Unsure of his talent and skills, he had trouble connecting with others and engaging in school. He was tentative about expressing himself but one day music came to his school. He started to sing and dance. First by keeping his eyes closed and then opening them little by little. Jose's music class was a safe space for him to find his voice and happiness. He explored a more vulnerable space and experienced joy and a complete transformation as a student not just in music, but in all areas. Jose's principal relayed this story to our team at ETM-CO and thanked us because Jose is now engaged and happy to be in school.

Watch the short video story of our ALL TOGETHER NOW FESTIVAL 2022, when 135 students came together for an uplifting and powerful performance.

EFFICIENCY INDEX

For every $ donated, 91 cents go straight to the education program (Efficiency Index based on 2021 ETM-CO Financial Statement).

Furthermore, through a three-year school development plan, we help principals strategize to hire music teachers, so we can then allocate our resources to new schools.