Story and Photos by Patrick Olivero
MIDDLETOWN – Applause and excited cheers echoed down the hallway at Harmony Elementary School Friday, Oct. 24, as students and staff gathered to open the school’s new band room. The long-anticipated space, carved out of the former library, marks a fresh start for the fourth- and fifth-graders who will learn and rehearse there this year.
Principal Eric Paulson said the idea took root after the library sat largely idle following the onset of COVID-19 and the district’s shift toward classroom libraries. “It started as a grassroots Harmony thing, and it’s morphed into a phenomenal investment in music education,” he said, noting that books were redistributed to classrooms and the space slowly evolved into a dedicated home for music instruction.
The transformation process accelerated when Middletown Township Public School District Superintendent of Schools Jessica Alfone, Ed.D., invited music educators to share what they needed to strengthen their programs. “She emailed all the band teachers in the whole district (and said) ‘I have money here set aside for you,’ ” Paulson recalled. Harmony prioritized music stands while planning other upgrades with building funds.
Over the summer, Paulson, music teacher Abby Lavender, and the maintenance team tackled the renovation. They removed old shelving, restored a bulletin board, repainted, organized storage and added a Box Light interactive display for lessons. Paulson estimates the project required 20 to 30 hours of hands-on work, completed in phases as each step revealed the next. Custodial staff also pitched in, a contribution publicly applauded at the ceremony.
For Lavender, who teaches band at Harmony and Nut Swamp, stepping into a dedicated room felt like a career milestone. “This is my 22nd year teaching and I’ve never had a band room,” she told students and staff. “To see this day, to me, is just so amazing.”
The room will serve a growing program that now includes 92 student musicians, up from just eight when she arrived in 2011. In addition to the classroom upgrades, 25 new music stands are on the way to support rehearsals.
During the ribbon-cutting, Paulson reminded students that music study boosts skills far beyond the stage. Playing an instrument, he said, gives the brain “superpower workouts,” helping with reading, math and science while building teamwork and patience through practice and performance. District leaders and music educators from the middle and high schools attended, underscoring the program’s pathway from elementary to secondary ensembles.
What began as a practical reuse of an underused room has become a statement about the role of the arts in Middletown schools. From a revived bulletin board to a modern teaching display, the band room blends function with inspiration for the next generation of players.
As Lavender told the crowd, the program has grown “like a flower,” and now it has a place to bloom.
The article originally appeared in the October 30 – November 5, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
