WHEREAS, Settlement Music School originated in 1908 at the College Settlement House in the Southwark section of South Philadelphia where Jeanette Selig Frank and Blanche Wolf Kohn, two volunteers, offered piano lessons to the immigrant community for five cents per lesson; and
WHEREAS, The School has grown steadily and today has six branches throughout the Philadelphia region, serving 16,000 students annually and 300,000 students over its 100 years of service, through on-site and special programs; and
WHEREAS, Settlement’s mission is to provide children and adults in the Philadelphia region with high-quality instruction and activity in music and the related arts, and serve the broadest possible constituency, regardless of age, gender, race, color or creed, national origin, physical disability or ability to pay; and
WHEREAS, Settlement distributes $2 million in financial aid annually to families in need; and
WHEREAS, Settlement Music School’s core program provides individual and class instruction in all instruments, voice and theory, Suzuki, Music Workshop, Fundamentals of Music, and ensembles and dance; the School also offers special programs for senior adults, students with disabilities, outreach programs with area pre-schools, day-care centers, charter and independent schools, and summer programs; and
WHEREAS, The School developed the nationally recognized Kaleidoscope Preschool Arts Enrichment Program, an arts-based pre-kindergarten program for underserved, inner-city children offered virtually tuition-free, and the Teacher Training Institute for the Arts which shares Kaleidoscope’s effective practices with a broader public of preschool, elementary school and arts teachers of young children; and
WHEREAS, Settlement Music School’s faculty of over 250 is the largest employer of musicians in the Commonwealth and consist of experienced, credentialed and highly regarded performers and teachers; and
WHEREAS, The School can be proud of its service to the Philadelphia community, proud of its many students who have gone on to professional careers in music and the related arts, and proud of the thousands of students whose lives have been enriched through its cultural offerings; now therefore be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, To honor and congratulate Settlement Music School on its 100th Anniversary and to recognize and commend its directors, officers, faculty, staff and students, both past and present, for making Settlement Music School an institution known world-wide for its excellence.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to its Executive Director, Robert Capanna, as evidence of the sincere gratitude and sentiment of this legislative body.
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