Southern Minnesota School of Music Facing Possible; Asking for Public Assistance
The Southern Minnesota School of Music is facing possible closure by the end of April due to a major funding shortfall. School leaders say they lost more than $100,000 in expected grant funding last year and are now working to raise $25,000 immediately to stay open. A post on the school’s Facebook Page further detailed the current challenges the school is facing:
URGENT: Help Save the Southern Minnesota School of Music!!
Greetings on behalf of the Board of Directors of the Southern Minnesota School of Music! We are writing to share an important and time-sensitive update regarding the future of the Southern Minnesota School of Music, formerly known as The Mankato Suzuki School of Music and The Mankato School of Music.
𝗗𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹, 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹.
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𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘐𝘯 2025 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 $100,000 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.
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After careful evaluation and thoughtful discussion, our Board of Directors and Executive Director, Mary, have agreed on a leadership transition aimed at strengthening the organization’s financial stability. This decision was initiated by Mary out of deep care for the program, honest reflection on her leadership strengths, and a desire to focus on her growing family as she and her husband grow closer to completing their adoption process. We are grateful that she will continue to be part of our community as a violin instructor.
We also want to express our sincere gratitude to our teachers. Their unwavering dedication to students and families—especially during this period of uncertainty—has been nothing short of extraordinary. Their impact is deeply valued and profoundly appreciated. 
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𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 50 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠, 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑧𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑎 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑎𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦. 𝑇𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦, 𝑤𝑒 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡. 𝐴𝑠 𝑎 𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑖𝑡, 𝑤𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑢𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑜𝑛 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠, 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠.
While our organization has grown significantly—expanding in just eight years from 60 students and 2 teachers to over 220 students and 15+ teachers across 10 counties and 5 southern Minnesota partnerships—our funding model has not kept pace. 𝙀𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙨𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙣𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙤 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙫𝙖𝙡.
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To that end, we invite you to attend the following:
𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 & 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞
(𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜):
𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍: 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟑𝟎 | 𝟕:𝟎𝟎–𝟖:𝟎𝟎 𝐏𝐌
𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄: 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡, 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐚𝐭𝐨
At this meeting, our SMSM Board President Kimberley Greenwood, will provide a transparent overview of our financial situation, answer questions, share our vision for the future, and outline immediate opportunities to support the program. We will also share updates on the search for our next Executive Director.
𝗪𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲 $𝟮𝟱,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻. 𝗔𝗻𝘆 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱.•
Your presence and support are vital at this pivotal moment. If you are unable to attend but would still like to contribute, we have established this GoFundMe to support the School of Music. The link is here: https://gofund.me/1fd83beba
𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒙 𝒅𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆. 𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝑬𝑰𝑵 𝒊𝒔: 36-3263269. 𝑷𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚, 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒄 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘!
We are deeply grateful for this community and remain hopeful that, together, we can sustain and strengthen this program for the next 50 years and beyond!
With appreciation and urgency,
𝑲𝙞𝒎𝙗𝒆𝙧𝒍𝙚𝒚 𝑮𝙧𝒆𝙚𝒏𝙬𝒐𝙤𝒅 ♫
SMSM Board President
And all SMSM Board Members
