After a six-year absence, students in Cranston’s 17 elementary schools will once again have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument.

Mark Colozzi, program supervisor for music education in Cranston Public Schools and co-director of band and choir at Cranston High School East, said he is beyond thrilled.

“The addition of our newest music staff in combination with our excellent veteran music educators is going to be unstoppable,” Colozzi said.

There are now 26 music teachers in the district for 11,000 students. Cranston has hired nine new teachers full time, and a floater to cover at several elementary schools.

“One point that we stressed in the interview process was the ability and awareness to be a team player. Versatility was a requirement, basically. I am also excited that we have two male general music teachers at the elementary schools this year,” Colozzi said.

As of now, the program is open to all students in grade six, and depending on the amount of students who register, and the size of the school, it will also be opened to grade five students. Once the sixth grade moves back to middle school in the 2016-17 school year, fourth-grade students may be given the opportunity.

According to Colozzi, students will receive beginner and intermediate instruction at both elementary and middle school levels.

Students will be given the choice to play band instruments, including flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone and percussion. For orchestra, the choices are violin, viola and cello.

“This means the world to me,” Colozzi said, crediting “my hardworking dedicated staff who made it work under adverse circumstances.”

“They were able to put out quality music with musicians who unfortunately did not get elementary school exposure to instruments,” he added.

For the upcoming school year, band, general music, strings and chorus will be “pull out” instruction. The cost of the instrument rental and equipment will be the family’s responsibility.

Colozzi is deeply grateful to the Victoria Alviti Music Foundation and Taco/The White Family Foundation for their support and donations over the years to help sustain music in Cranston schools.

“We have bent over backwards to make sure that we provide the opportunities and means to the best of our abilities to provide lessons and music equipment to those who are in need,” he said.

In the years since music programming was lost to budget cuts, the group Benefiting All Students In Cranston Schools, or BASICS, has also stepped in to provide opportunity and instruction for students. Hundreds of children have participated, and the group is now set to begin its sixth year.

Colozzi expects that there will be two performances a year at the schools, one during the holiday season and one at year’s end.

Pam Lowell, the former music teacher at Bain Middle School and the current orchestra director for Cranston East, is excited to see the new musicians.

“While the orchestra has grown in numbers, unfortunately the skills are not there – yet,” she said. “When I left Bain, a lot of the kids followed me to East. It was a wonderful feeling.”

The cuts to the music program several years ago not only hurt the students, but had an impact throughout the Cranston community. Several musical stores closed, due to the decrease in the sale or rental of instruments and the lower demand for lessons.

“We are hoping with the progression of the program, we will have the possibility of needing even more teachers in the district,” Lowell said.