August 7, 2024

Dear Families with Students in Grades 3-5,

Dr. Lee and I, Nathan Greenwood, hope this email finds you well, rested and excited to begin another school year. It’s my great joy to share some information about our lower school strings program with you. Starting in third grade (and all the way through grade 12), students have the opportunity to study a string instrument at Columbus Academy! The lower school program is focused on establishing and nurturing a strong technical foundation for performance and a lifelong love of music. Our curriculum is derived from the work of Mimi Zweig, Paul Rolland and Shinichi Suzuki.

String instruments are for everyone, and we would love the opportunity to help your children learn and improve on them!

Our after-school lessons begin Monday, August 26. Please register your children for the 2024-25 school year strings program by filling out THIS FORM by August 21. There is a one-time $40 fee for this program (per child) that will be billed to your school account.

Students should have their instruments at our first class meeting. I highly recommend renting an instrument from the Loft Violin Shop (located at 4604 N. High St, Columbus) because the workers there will help find the right size instruments for your children, help them name the instruments and even give them a quick tutorial on basic care. There is plenty of information regarding their rental program available on the Loft website. If you have any questions about the instruments not covered by the Loft, please feel free to contact me.

For our Level 2 and Level 3 students, please register them for the instruments that they have previously studied unless we have had prior communication. If children are switching instruments, it may be necessary for them to repeat Level 1 to gain the basic skills needed to be successful with their peers. If there are questions about appropriate levels in which children should enroll, please contact me.

Here is the schedule for our lower school strings program:

• Level 1: Wednesday/Friday from 3:30 to 4:00 p.m.
• Level 2: Tuesday/Thursday from 3:30 to 4:00 p.m.
• Level 3: Tuesday/Thursday from 7:25 to 8:00 a.m. (for Level 3 families, a separate email will be sent the week of August 19th with specific details regarding dropoff)

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask! I look forward to meeting you and your children. It’s going to be a great year!

Thanks,

Nathan Greenwood

Academy Orchestra Instructor

Dr. Soojin Lee

Academy LS Orchestra Assistant