School Partnerships in Lawrence

Helping to provide supplementary music instruction in the Lawrence Public Schools has been our most rewarding endeavor for the last 10 years. MVCMS has worked with Guilmette Elementary School, Rollins Early Childhood Center, Emily G. Wetherbee, and Lawrence High School. We have received numerous local cultural council grants to assist Lawrence High School band students with private instruction on their instruments. The public schools currently do not introduce band until grade 9, which is why we applied for and received a Ser Hacer grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council to create a middle school band at the Wetherbee School. We also raised funds for a set of Orff instruments and have offered Orff Schulwerk instruction at Guilmette and Wetherbee for their enrichment programs, at one point reaching over 300 students per year. We have also provided general music, early childhood music, and recorder classes. We are always interested in local music organizations and individuals to join us in our work in Lawrence as instructors or organizers. Additionally, we are always interested in more funding from community partners to help us continue this work.