A message from Director, Student Services, Inclusion & Engagement, Loyi Malu

THE MISSION TO ACHIEVE EQUITY, DIVERSITY, INCLUSION and ACCESSIBILITY

Throughout our long history history, Third Street Music School has been deeply committed to fostering an environment that is welcoming and supportive to students of all ages, ethnicities, religions and socioeconomic backgrounds. 

The Third Street community is proud of our settlement house roots and we are dedicated to building upon this heritage of equity and inclusion. We recognize that racism is insidious and is present in all aspects of society, including the arts and education. As members of the arts community and educators of the next generation, we are dedicated to confronting underlying issues that have gone unnoticed or unaddressed. 

Third Street endeavors to dismantle systemic barriers that disproportionately affect communities of color. We apply equal care to identify and rectify any system of oppression based on ethnicity, gender, ability, sexual orientation, age, and religion.

third street equity, Diversity, inclusion and accessibility initiative update

Task Force

1. Completed action plans around maintaining and supporting a diverse faculty, curriculum and pedagogy, and policy. 
2. Our work is filtering out beyond task force planning to implementation throughout the organization, working with relevant departments to move toward our goals.

Resources/Access

1. We continue a generous financial aid program (over $1M in subsidies and need  based aid, including full scholarships to students in foster care and shelters)
2. Instrument/material access from books and vouchers to home deliveries of instruments (including keyboards!)
3. Maintain a small collection of new and gently used dance shoes that students can use should the need arise. 
4. Our Third Street Partners team delivered multilingual information about our free programming hand to hand at our partner schools to ensure that information was distributed equally to all families. 

Professional Development

1. The majority of faculty and staff have attended trainings and workshops (Talking About Race, Unconscious Bias in the Classroom, Black Composers in Classical Music and Undoing Ageism).

Curriculum/Repertoire

1. Collaborated with more BIPOC artists in masterclasses and guest performances 
2. Faculty are highlighting more repertoire by composers from underrepresented communities
3. Sessions with Third Street Partners faculty, allowing space for conversation and idea sharing around ways to bring in varied repertoire and navigate implicit bias
4. Resource library - faculty have been both drawing from and contributing to this growing repository
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Policy

1. Microagressions – we have a policy and procedure rooted in restorative justice. Frameworks for anyone who has experienced, committed or witnessed a microaggression.
2. Hiring policy - analyzed and revamped with department chairs and hiring managers, posting positions widely, broadening our networks, developing and fostering relationships with other organizations
3. Deliberately and thoughtfully hiring personnel committed to diversity, equity and inclusion
4. Job board – where anyone can see what opportunities are available ThirdStreet.nyc/careers

ACHIEVEMENT - In the Fall 2023 hiring cycle, 50% of new employees to Third Street represented BIPOC communities

Celebrations

1. The Cultural Celebrations series consists of workshops, performances and events highlighting various cultures, identities and intersections in our community
2. Expanded series from 2 events to a full year of activity and school-wide engagement with culturally specific content  
3. We have increased the in-school & online presence acknowledging a wider scope of culturally significant events throughout the year as well as providing resources and professional development for our faculty to support participation.

Cultural Celebration Example: Black History Month 2024 at Third Street Music School, click below.