The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation

The immediate goal is to provide enough instruments to the music program to eliminate sharing and wait lists, replace instruments in the school's inventory that are beyond repair or able to be used, eliminate borrowing instruments from other schools and to increase the number of youngsters who can participate in music. Long-term goals are to strengthen the music program, raise awareness of the importance for music education in the school and in the community and renew the school and the district's commitment to music education and secure its place for the future. We hope to remove the barriers to access that low-income families face when they can't afford to rent or purchase instruments for their children, and school instruments are the only option - often in very short supply and aged beyond repair.

Our strategy is to give each school the tools they need to provide a quality music education to their students. This will:

a. Increase the number of students who can participate in music by allowing those who are on waiting lists or who cannot afford to rent or buy an instrument a chance to play, free of charge
b. Replace instruments in the school's inventory that are no longer playable or able to be used by students
c. Eliminate sharing of instruments to enhance the quality of the students' music education
d. Eliminate borrowing instruments from other schools that are loaned temporarily so that the awarded school has its own reliable inventory to sustain and grow the program
e. Raise awareness of the music program to motivate, inspire and encourage the total student body to participate
f. Renew the school and the school district's commitment to their music program with a sizable and public investment in the program

In addition, we provide much-needed support services to school districts that show a strong commitment to music education, but don't have time, resources or knowledge to address common challenges. We help identify areas where we can help them sustain their music programs.

Our core program addresses the needs of students from low-income communities attending Title 1 schools throughout the country. With 20 years of experience and understanding the issues and challenges facing school districts attempting to provide quality and sustainable music education for all students, MHOF can contribute much more than instruments to their programs. Even more valuable and welcomed is the range of services we also provide – such as more efficient inventory controls, assessment of music offerings district-wide, feeder pattern identification, speaking at school board meetings to promote further support, and holding community instrument drives. Many school districts are hungry for this kind of help.

Since 1996, we have donated over 28,000 instruments to 1,531 school music programs, effectively serving 2+ million students over the life of the instruments.

In October 2016, Americans for the Arts honored the foundation with their national Arts Education Award for two decades of service to music education.

We have accomplished, through our donors' generosity, a huge amount for many schools and many students, but the work continues and the demand increases. We want to accomplish more for more kids as long as we can, and as long as those who share the values and passion for music education continue to support our efforts.