Keeping teachers teaching and students playing
The Roosevelt School District in South Phoenix closed five elementary schools at the end of the 2024–25 school year. The International Jazz Day AZ Foundation responds by:
Funding paid for after-school music instruction for displaced or at-risk programs
Supporting music teachers directly, allowing them to continue working with their students
Partnering with community leaders and organizations to sustain programs during school transitions
Using jazz as an entry point to teach discipline, creativity, collaboration, and cultural history
We have used this model before with our partners—and with renewed urgency, we are working to expand it again.