History

Founded in 2000 by Marnie O'Sullivan, Seattle Music Partners began as a grass-roots project to increase access for underserved students in the Central District to the many music-making opportunities available at Washington Middle and Garfield High Schools. 

Reductions in funding for music in Seattle’s elementary schools had, unintentionally, created a deep disparity in learning between students who had access to private music lessons and those who did not. And for those students who did not have the opportunity to develop equivalent musical skills, the doors to participation in the award winning bands and orchestras at the neighborhood secondary schools seemingly were all but closed.
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It was against this backdrop that Marnie created Seattle Music Partners. From 2000-2007, SMP paired volunteers, predominantly from Garfield High School, as they provided weekly one-on-one instruction to an average of 30 students at Leschi Elementary School. Learning how to play an instrument, read music, and developing a sense of belonging were, and remain, important goals for participants. And creating opportunities for the diversity of the student population to be better reflected in the band and orchestra programs a desired outcome.

The program grew and in 2007, SMP obtained tax-exempt status and expanded to additional schools in the Central District. In the following years, SMP invested in increasing the depth and quality of the program by funding positions for both Education and Program Directors, as well as establishing a relationship with AmeriCorps. 

As part of our commitment to program strength, in recent years we have:
  • Doubled instructional time by providing students two afternoons of instruction each week 
  • Developed our own curriculum and an array of assessments to map student progress
  • ​Introduced a series of ‘All-SMP Community Evenings’ that bring students (and their families) from all our schools together for performances and parent ed sessions
  • Launched a free summer program so that students can gain even more exposure to music through SMP
  • Created a middle school music ensemble for SMP grads

As we continue to expand the program, our student enrollment keeps growing! For the first time this past year we had more than 100 elementary school students paired with a volunteer.
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Early SMP Photo at Leschi Elementary.
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The 2017-2018 Leschi SMP program!