Announcing our first publication: The Journey of El Sistema at Conservatory Lab

We are pleased to announce that we've finished our first collaborative publication as an organization! I've worked with Josue Gonzalez, the Director of El Sistema at Conservatory Lab Charter School, to write a document about the implementation and best practices of Conservatory Lab's El Sistema-inspired music program, and how similar music programs can be initiated in other schools. We've named the method of initiating such a program the Conservatory Lab Method, and have published this document as a guide for interested schools and educators. It includes information on professional development, grade-by-grade instrument instruction, operational considerations, and pedagogical advice. As we say in the guide, "This guide codifies the tools that we have found useful in building our own professional learning community, but you should consider these tools a point of departure, not a definitive list."

We hope this codifying document will be a tremendous help to any educators hoping to bring El Sistema-inspired practices to their communities. You can find it here, or on our resources page. And if you have any questions, feel free to contact us!