Dear Bloomingdale families,
We know these are strange and unfamiliar times and that most of us are getting accustomed to a temporary change in our day to day lives. In this time of uncertainty, one thing you can be certain of is that Bloomingdale School of Music is still hard at work serving you, our community. While we wish we could be meeting in person in our beloved brownstone, we understand the severity of the current health crisis and are happy to be able to continue working and building community with all of you- even remotely!
To ensure consistent learning as required through this challenging time, we are conducting private lessons, modified group classes, and ensembles remotely via online platforms for the majority of our students. We are working towards having this be an option for ALL students soon. If you have not done so already, please take a minute to connect with your faculty member to set up video lessons during this school closure.
Our staff is now set up remotely and working with faculty, both individually to address specific needs for their studios, and also through a series of webinar meetings, where we came together for training and to share ideas and best practices to help us navigate this transition.
Here is what some of our staff and faculty are reporting back from just a few short days of virtual teaching:
- Students who continue to meet for regular music lessons report maintaining a sense of normalcy during this crisis and their class time serves as a structured and educational activity for students while they’re adjusting to a new schedule at home
- Meeting regularly with faculty allows students and families to see a familiar face and chat with someone who knows and cares about them
- Some students, especially younger students, are finding that virtual lessons enable them to really listen, focus, and stay engaged during the entire lesson with the help of a parent- thank you parents!
- Students are finding more time to practice their instruments and are looking forward to their lessons and classes even more!
We are so glad to be able to hear some of your success stories with this new endeavor for Bloomingdale- please keep sharing your experiences with us! (Send emails to registrar@bsmny.org, or connect via social media below.) In a few days, we will email out a document of resources, tips, and tricks our faculty have shared with us to help ensure smooth virtual meetings and positive experiences just like these.
Starting on Monday and throughout next week, our registration staff will be reaching out to each family to check in on how this transition is going and ways we can assist you during this time.
Now, more than ever, our Family Data Project is essential to complete, confirming the best way to reach out to our families and stay connected. If you have not sent your forms back – please reach out to Marianela Torres, mtorres@bsmny.org to submit your copy electronically. We are extending the entry for the raffle prize of BSM Swag to March 31st.
Registration staff are available 7 days a week to attend to and support families and can best be reached by email at registrar@bsmny.org during the following hours:
Monday: 11 am to 9 pm
Tuesday: 11 am to 9 pm
Wednesday: 11 am to 9 pm
Thursday: 11 am to 9 pm
Friday: 11 am to 9 pm
Saturday: 9 am to 5 pm
Sunday: 10 am to 6 pm
We are keeping a close eye on new information from local (Dept of Health & Mental Hygiene, Dept of Education, Dept of Cultural Affairs), state (NY State), and national organizations (CDC) on when we are able to re-open and will keep you updated as soon as possible. Until we are able to open, we highly encourage students to continue their classes online. Not only are we incredibly invested in your music education and wish to offer consistent teaching, but we also want to support our faculty members so that we don’t enter the later months of this semester with a backlog of makeup lessons.
We thank you all so much for your flexibility during this time and remain ever grateful to our wonderful faculty for really working with us in this quick transition. Know that even though we may be apart for now, we are still your center for community music and are here for you!
If you have stories from your times at home, please share them with us. Also, don’t forget to connect to our social media pages so that we can see what your #BSMathome learning looks like and that we can stay connected with you during this time.
All the best,
Lohengrin Velasquez
Director of Student Services
