PROGRAM GOALS 2021-26

ELM into the Future

ELM’s vision for the next decade is to create a multi-cultural hub of excellence in the heart of the Canal community where children families of many cultural traditions receive world-class classical instrumental ensemble music instruction and performance opportunities and musical repertoire that reflects the diversity of our students’ cultures and community. We will come together as ensembles to guide our students to develop skills as musicians, scholars, and leaders. 

Our Next Five Years

We have come a long way from the days of passion over planning, although the passion has never been more ardent, the need never so great, the potential never so attainable.

Having completed our first strategic plan in 2019 which resulted in the growth in number of students addition of a wind and brass program, growth in our infrastructure, a development plan, and our first home, we are poised to envision our next 5 years of growth.

Mission

Enriching Lives through Music provides youth with an immersive music education that empowers them to pursue their dreams and access resources they need to succeed in life.

Setting Goals

Even before Covid changed our reality, ELM initiated a strategic planning process - to propel us into our second decade as a non-profit.

We revised our mission statement, clarified our values, and set ambitious goals.

Musical Excellence: the heartbeat of ELM

ELM is dedicated to creating a diverse musical pathway that reflects our students cultures and community.

Each ELM student will travel through this pathway from entry through graduation from the program.

Creating a Musical Pathway

Goals

  • Create a sequential music education program for all ELM students

  • Support a musical repertoire that reflects our students' cultures and community

  • Grow our orchestral model to promote a seamless transition through three levels of orchestra

  • Provide a pathway for highly motivated students to excel musically

  • Motivate high school students to continue in ELM through high school graduation

Playing Diverse Repertoire

Strategies

  • Determine criteria for musical advancement

  • Increase diversity of artistic leadership and repertoire

  • Develop curriculum for highly-motivated students

  • Create an engagement plan for high school students

Beyond the Music

Retaining musical excellence as our centerpiece, we have identified three core components - academic achievement, social and emotional wellbeing, and family engagement as supporting pillars.

Academic Achievement

We have identified ambitious goals and strategies to ensure that our students stay on track academically.

We are fortunate for the opportunity to work with children starting in early elementary school and continuing throughout their childhood.

ELM is committed to supporting the academic growth of students to ensure that they have the skills and knowledge needed to pursue their dreams.

Building a College-bound Culture

Goals

  • Support students to achieve or exceed the milestone of 4th-grade reading proficiency

  • Support students to achieve or exceed the milestone of 8th-grade math proficiency

  • Build a college-bound culture: ensure students graduate from ELM and high school eligible for a 4-year college

Promoting Literacy

Strategies

  • Tutoring and academic counseling support

  • Partnerships with like-minded organizations • Monitoring student progress

  • Engaging teaching artists

  • Building parental engagement and awareness through advocacy and mentoring

Social and Emotional Well-being

We recognize the importance of mental health and will create a culture of integrating social and emotional well being at every level of ELM - teaching faculty and staff, families, and students.

ELM is committed to supporting the social and emotional well-being of our entire community.

Supporting Well-Being

Goals

  • Teaching artists learn skills and strategies to recognize and support the social and emotional well-being of students

  • Families feel connected to and supported by ELM

  • Students have enhanced sense of well-being and self-efficacy

Providing Resources

Strategies

  • Professional development for teaching artists

  • Parent education and peer support (Promotora-style model)

  • Increase family engagement

  • Provide meaningful links to community resources

  • Conduct needs assessment and evaluation

  • Implement a "Big Brother/Sister Mentor Program" within instrument groupsGoals

Family Engagement

Families are essential to our students' psychological, social, and academic well-being.

ELM is devoted to supporting our families and recognizing the assets and resources that they bring to their children and our program.

Supporting Families

Goals

  • Increase the number of parents who are engaged in ELM

  • Increase the depth of participation

  • Evaluate barriers that might prevent parents from participation

Increasing Engagement

Strategies

  • Assess current activities, opportunities, and wishes for engagement

  • Identify and provide family engagement opportunities

  • Evaluate barriers that may prevent parents from participating in activities

  • Develop a family engagement tracking method

Vision for the Future

Our vision for the next decade is to create a multicultural hub of excellence in the heart of the Canal community where children and families of many cultural traditions receive world-class classical instrumental ensemble music instruction and performance opportunities with repertoire that reflects the diversity of our students' cultures and community. Our students will develop skills as musicians, scholars, and leaders and graduate from ELM with confidence, and ability to pursue their dreams.

Multicultural Hub of Musical Excellence

This 'hub' will also be a physical location in which we can bring all of our students together under one roof as a center of excellence for rehearsals, concerts, and practice rooms. A place for gatherings, and opportunity for tutoring and academic support.

ELM provides youth with an immersive music education that empowers them to pursue their dreams and access resources they need to succeed in life.

ELM is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Our Tax ID is 46-3586448.

Thank you from all of us at ELM.