Education Through Music Inc
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
EDUCATION THROUGH MUSIC (ETM) WAS FORMED TO PROMOTE THE USE OF MUSIC IN THE CORE CURRICULA OF UNDER-RESOURCED SCHOOLS AS A MEANS OF POSITIVELY IMPACTING STUDENT MOTIVATION, ACHIEVEMENT, AND SELF-CONFIDENCE BY PROVIDING YEAR-LONG, IN-SCHOOL MUSIC EDUCATION PROGRAMS WITH A DEDICATED STAFF OF TEACHERS AND SUPPORT MANAGEMENT, ETM MAKES MUSIC EDUCATION A REALITY FOR THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN WHO WOULD OTHERWISE HAVE LIMITED OR NO EXPOSURE TO MUSIC INSTRUCTION AT SCHOOL. DURING 2024-2025, ETM'S PARTNER SCHOOL PROGRAM PROVIDED COMPREHENSIVE, DIRECT MUSIC INSTRUCTION TO OVER 19,000 CHILDREN IN NEW YORK CITY.
- Income
- $4.6 million
- Spending
- $6.3 million
- Spent on programs
- 79%
- Reserves
- 5.7 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- fees for its services, 42%
- Employees
- 95
- Volunteers
- 26
- Highest pay
- $300,000, chief executive officer
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Fair: 51 out of 100. Higher than 23% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, $1m to $10m).
Reserves
20 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 5.7 months of spending.
Debt
16 of 20It owes 27% of what it owns.
Living within its means
0 of 15Spending exceeded income by 35% of income.
Income trend
0 of 15Income fell 39% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1579% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 33 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 90 out of 100. Higher than 49% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, $1m to $10m).
Independent board
25 of 2526 of 26 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
0 of 10Did not give the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
15 of 15Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (1)
- $4.9 million spent. PROGRAM SERVICE ACCOMPLISHMENTS 2024-25DURING THE 2024-2025 SCHOOL YEAR, EDUCATION THROUGH MUSIC WORKED TO SUPPORT STUDENT LEARNING AND ENGAGEMENT, WHILE BUILDING CAPACITY AMONG SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO CREATE SUSTAINABLE MUSIC PROGRAMS. ETM DELIVERED MUSIC CLASSES TO 19,086 UNDER-RESOURCED CHILDREN AT 55 SCHOOLS IN LOWER-INCOME NEW YORK CITY NEIGHBORHOODS. OF THE STUDENTS SERVED, APPROXIMATELY 23% HAD SPECIAL NEEDS, 17% WERE ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS, AND 86% WERE LIVING BELOW THE POVERTY LINE. 95% OF ETM STUDENTS WERE PEOPLE OF COLOR: 57% HISPANIC, 32% BLACK, AND 6% ASIAN (AS CATEGORIZED IN SCHOOL CENSUS REPORTS). THESE 55 PARTNER SCHOOLS WERE LOCATED IN ALL FIVE NEW YORK CITY BOROUGHS: 31 BRONX, 11 BROOKLYN, 4 MANHATTAN, 8 QUEENS, AND 1 STATEN ISLAND, ALLOWING US TO WORK WITH MORE THAN 19,000 CHILDREN EACH WEEK, WHICH INCLUDED 28 BAND, ORCHESTRA, AND CHORUS PROGRAMS. ETM'S PROGRAMS PROVIDED:- STUDENTS WITH ACCESS TO COMPREHENSIVE, SEQUENTIAL, AND SKILLS-, AND STANDARDS-BASED MUSIC INSTRUCTION AS WELL AS ENRICHMENT PROGRAMS, SUCH AS BAND, ORCHESTRA, AND CHORUS.- MUSIC TEACHERS WITH ONGOING TRAINING, MENTORING, AND OVERSIGHT.- CLASSROOM TEACHERS WITH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.- PRINCIPALS WITH LEADERSHIP AND PROGRAM MANAGEMENT GUIDANCE.- PARENTS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS WITH OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN ABOUT MUSIC EDUCATION AND TO SEE THEIR CHILDREN PERFORM. CORE MUSIC INSTRUCTION AND ENRICHMENTSTUDENTS IN ETM PARTNER SCHOOLS RECEIVED WEEKLY CORE MUSIC CLASSES DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR, WITH ETM TEACHERS PROVIDING 33,984 HOURS OF IN-PERSON INSTRUCTION AT 55 SCHOOLS. TEACHERS INCORPORATED AGE-APPROPRIATE SONGS AND INSTRUMENTS SUCH AS: XYLOPHONES, HAND PERCUSSION, AND UKULELES. MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL INSTRUCTION INCORPORATED MUSIC TECHNOLOGY IN STATE-OF-THE-ART LABS. INSTRUCTION FOLLOWED ETM'S GRADE-LEVEL MUSIC CURRICULUM, WHICH ALIGNS WITH NEW YORK STATE AND NATIONAL STANDARDS. IN ADDITION TO PROVIDING A FOUNDATION OF KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS IN MUSIC, MUSIC TEACHERS EMPLOYED INTEGRATION STRATEGIES AND COLLABORATED WITH CLASSROOM TEACHERS TO REINFORCE COGNITIVE SKILLS THAT SUPPORTED STUDENT LEARNING IN OTHER SUBJECTS, SUCH AS ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS, HISTORY, MATH, AND SCIENCE. EACH SCHOOL PERFORMED A WINTER AND SPRING CONCERT, WITH 13,360 PARENTS, STUDENTS, AND TEACHERS ATTENDING. BY PERFORMING IN THESE CONCERTS, STUDENTS SHOWCASED THEIR NEW SKILLS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS TO PEERS, PARENTS, AND THEIR WIDER SCHOOL COMMUNITIES.ENSEMBLES AND ENRICHMENTTHIS YEAR ETM CONTINUED TO SUPPORT THE ESTABLISHMENT AND GROWTH OF EXTRACURRICULAR ENSEMBLES WITH 28 ENSEMBLES PARTICIPATING IN THIS YEAR'S CONCERTS: 8 CONCERT BANDS, 3 STRING ORCHESTRAS, 7 MODERN BANDS, 9 CHOIRS, AND ONE BUCKET DRUMMING CLUB. THESE GROUPS WERE LED BY ETM-TRAINED AND -SUPPORTED MUSIC TEACHERS AND TYPICALLY REHEARSED 1-3 TIMES PER WEEK, BEFORE OR AFTER SCHOOL, WITH ADDITIONAL SMALL GROUP LESSONS. PARTICIPATION IN AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS, PART OF ETM'S "EXTENDED DAY," RESULTED IN OVER 1,000 STUDENTS PARTICIPATING IN THESE AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS FOR A TOTAL OF OVER 1,290 SESSIONS/HOURS. MUSIC TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTETM PROVIDED 90+ HOURS OF TARGETED TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TO 50 TEACHERS, BEGINNING WITH OUR ANNUAL ETM ACADEMY, 60 HOURS OF MANDATORY TRAINING FOR ALL ETM MUSIC TEACHERS, HELD AUG. 19 - AUG. 26, 2024. THESE WORKSHOPS FOCUSED ON SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING, CONCERT AND PERFORMANCE ELEMENTS, AND CREATING INCLUSIVE CLASSROOMS, AMONG OTHER TOPICS. ETM ALSO HELD 25 ADDITIONAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SESSIONS OVER THE COURSE OF THE SCHOOL YEAR. THESE SESSIONS INCLUDED TEACHING MUSIC TO SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS, ELL STRATEGIES IN THE MUSIC ROOM, AND BUCKET DRUMMING LINE AND BODY PERCUSSION, AMONG OTHER TOPICS. THIS YEAR, ETM ACHIEVED A 100% TEACHER RETURN RATE.ETM PROGRAM STAFF ALSO PROVIDED ONGOING SUPPORT AND MENTORING TO TEACHERS, VISITING EACH ETM TEACHER ON SITE AT LEAST ONCE PER MONTH, AND HOLDING REGULAR CHECK-INS.BUILDING CAPACITY TO SUSTAIN PROGRAMSPRINCIPALS RECEIVED ONE-ON-ONE GUIDANCE ON PROGRAM MANAGEMENT, ASSESSMENT, BUDGET PLANNING, AND IDENTIFYING FUNDING RESOURCES. ETM PROVIDED ONGOING SUPPORT TO PRINCIPALS DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR TO PROMOTE BUY-IN FOR MUSIC PROGRAMS. ETM STAFF AND MUSIC TEACHERS BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH SCHOOL PERSONNEL AND ENGAGED PARENTS. ETM'S MODEL IS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED WHEN THE SCHOOL HIRES A MUSIC TEACHER FULL-TIME.PUBLIC PERFORMANCES & PROGRAMMINGDURING 2024-25, OUR STUDENTS PERFORMED AT THE ICONIC APOLLO THEATER, YANKEE STADIUM, ONE WORLD TRADE CENTER, YOUTUBE HEADQUARTERS, THE BRONX DAY PARADE, THE BRONX STATE OF THE BOROUGH ADDRESS, AND HAVE PERFORMED ALONGSIDE GRAMMY-WINNING ARTISTS AT THE BEACON THEATER AND THE PERELMAN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER. IN MAY 2025, WE HOSTED OUR INAUGURAL BATTLE OF THE BANDS WHEREIN NINE ROCK BANDS FROM FOUR ETM PARTNER SCHOOLS GATHERED AT MS419 IN QUEENS TO SHOW OFF THEIR SKILLS AND COMPETE FOR THE TOP PRIZE.EVALUATIONEACH YEAR, PROGRAM STAFF MEMBERS CONDUCT REGULAR SITE VISITS TO EACH SCHOOL AND MUSIC TEACHER; OBSERVE AND EVALUATE MUSIC TEACHERS USING A RUBRIC TO RATE PLANNING AND PREPARATION, CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT, INTEGRATION, AND INSTRUCTION; AND DISCUSS OBSERVATIONS AND OFFER SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT. OUR OBSERVATION RUBRICS ALIGN WITH THE DANIELSON FRAMEWORK, THE SYSTEM USED BY THE NYCDOE. IN ADDITION, ETM ENGAGES METIS, A NYC-BASED RESEARCH AND EVALUATION FIRM SPECIALIZING IN P-12 EDUCATION AND ARTS EDUCATION AND ENGAGEMENT, TO EVALUATE THE PARTNER SCHOOL PROGRAM. METIS ADMINISTERED TEACHER, PRINCIPAL, AND FAMILY SURVEYS AT THE BEGINNING AND THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR. PRELIMINARY FINDINGS FROM METIS'S INTERIM REPORT INDICATE THAT: 64% OF TEACHERS FELT THAT ETM STUDENTS IMPROVED THEIR ORAL EXPRESSIONS SKILLS SIGNIFICANTLY BECAUSE OF MUSIC CLASS; 80% OF TEACHERS FELT ETM PROGRAMMING SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED STUDENTS' CONFIDENCE; 65% IMPROVED CRITICAL THINKING; 65% IMPROVED FOCUS; 65% AUTONOMY/INDEPENDENCE; AND 61% PROBLEM SOLVING. 95% OF PAR
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated November 6, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending June 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since June 1991.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated November 4, 2026.
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