Beat 4 Beat’s mission is to develop confidence and community for underserved youth in Central Texas through after-school music education. Taught by local musicians, our curriculum is inspired by students’ interests, providing opportunities for expression and empowerment.

Beat 4 Beat is an Austin-based nonprofit that offers after-school music classes to underserved students in low-income schools. We provide local musicians with a well-paying side job,      mentoring and teaching classes in music, production, and songwriting. In the past year students have shown a strong interest in podcasts, so we created a curriculum for producing a podcast (with music, of course!).

Beat 4 Beat has been a constant in Austin ISD, Del Valle ISD, and other after-school programs for the past decade. Our teachers and staff have built relationships with students and their families, and we look forward to returning to our regulars each year.

Though school districts are usually able to pay for program fees through federal grants, many can no longer afford the same after-school programs, as budgets have changed following the pandemic. We wish to fully fund our program, so that we never need to charge program fees again.

Our programs offer a unique opportunity for students to build confidence. Our classes create a safe space for creative self-expression, an outlet that has massive mental and emotional health benefits. This program has even been shown to reduce rates of recidivism in students by more than 90%.

It is heartbreaking to imagine a year without any of our precious students making music with our teachers and performing their new creations at the end-of-year showcase concert.

Beat 4 Beat’s after-school class costs approximately $5,000 per school year, and we typically serve about 40-50 classes across 20 school campuses each year. In addition to Austin-area school districts, we serve educational and community centers, such as the Jewish Community Center, YMCA locations, and groups of homeschool students.

These programs are supported in part by the City of Austin Economic Development Department

This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts