By Stephen Weir

When school started this week in Scarborough, there was a certain musical magic around three junior schools that was not there back in June when school went on summer vacation. Alexander Stirling Public School, George Peck Public School, and John McCrae Public School have come into some unexpected money this week for their music programs. The downtown Jarvis high school is also celebrating.

The schools are sharing in a cross-Canada million-dollar gift from the country’s leading music education charity, MusiCounts, which announced that 74 schools across Canada will receive $1 million worth of musical instruments, equipment, and gear. This is all part of MusiCounts’ school funding programs—the MusiCounts Band Aid Program and the MusiCounts Slaight Family Foundation Innovation Fund.

As students return to the classroom, school music education across the country is in a critical state of disrepair. Many school music programs are under-resourced as they try to adapt to the evolving needs and interests of students. Fifty-eight of the 2024 MusiCounts School Funding recipient schools indicated that the success of their program hinges on receiving a MusiCounts grant. Though MusiCounts is proud of the positive impact it makes in schools across the country, it is only able to support about 1 in every 5 schools that applied for help this year.

“MusiCounts is thrilled to welcome students back to school and back to music with the investment of $1 million worth of much-needed instruments and gear,” said Kristy Fletcher, President of MusiCounts. “As students return to the music classroom, they’ll not only find guitars, drums, horns, and turntables, they’ll also find a safe space in their school where they can connect with their peers, build their confidence, and find their voice.”

At Jarvis Collegiate Institute in Toronto, much of the school’s population identifies as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of colour). The school hosted a workshop exploring hip-hop culture and music. While there was tremendous student interest, the school wasn’t able to further develop culturally relevant programming like this without additional funding. With the MusiCounts grant, the school is introducing a new DJ and hip-hop program to feed students’ interest.

Four other Toronto schools also received assistance from MusiCounts this week.