The Academy’s Instruments in the Attic (IiA) program collects instruments and equipment donated from the public to help support music teachers, students, and organizations.
Courtney Janeski, volunteer drums and percussion teacher for grades 7–12 at Hearthstone School, contacted the Academy to request instruments for their school.
Located in Sperryville, the Hearthstone School is a “small, independent, non-profit Waldorf-inspired school.” Janeski writes:
Hearthstone School serves students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. Our mission is to honor the whole child — heart, head, and hands — through a holistic, creative, and inclusive educational environment. Music plays a vital role in that mission, offering our students a powerful way to connect, communicate, and express themselves.
As a largely volunteer-run program with no dedicated budget for instruments or repairs, we face the challenge of providing meaningful musical opportunities for every child despite our limited resources.
In the lower grades, students begin their musical journey with the pentatonic scale, following a Waldorf-inspired approach that nurtures natural musical development and emotional expression. Pentatonic instruments — such as flutes and lyres — are in very high need, as our current collection is small and aging.
In grades 4–6, students are introduced to the violin, deepening their understanding of melody, harmony, and ensemble playing. Our current violins are quite old and in disrepair.
In the high school grades (9-12), I lead two student rock bands in our own “school of rock,” where music becomes a powerful outlet for emotional expression, creativity, teamwork, and confidence. Our percussion equipment is extremely vintage and in dire need of repair or replacement.
We’re pleased to have provided the Hearthstone School with 42 instruments: 12 acoustic guitars, 7 cymbals, 7 violins, 7 electric guitars, 4 amplifiers, 3 small harps, 1 pair of claves, and 1 lyre.