Photo by Skip Lawrence Monocacy Valley Montessori music instructor Dana Rokosny tunes a violin as students prepare for the Strings Fest held at Tuscarora High School on Sunday afternoon.

Alongside professionals and performers from the Peabody Institute and Maryland Talent Education Center, the Sunday afternoon concert at Tuscarora High School featured a group of elementary and middle school students who receive a special kind of music education.

Their school, Monocacy Valley Montessori -- Maryland's first public charter school -- uses the Suzuki method for stringed instrument instruction.

Created by Shinichi Suzuki, a 20th-century violinist, the method emphasizes learning, starting at an early age, from teachers who are experienced in their fields.

The program, which teaches children how to play violin, viola, cello and bass, starts instruction as early as first grade, whereas traditional public school instrumental courses often do not begin until fourth or fifth grade.

Phyllis Freeman, the program's director, said the school's four instructors, all trained performers -- not certified teachers -- manage to teach 20 classes a week.

"The idea is children learn music the same way you learn language," Freeman said, noting that teaching students at such a young age allows them to absorb more technique.

Some Monocacy Valley courses only teach a handful of students at a time to allow for individual instruction, she said.

Courtney Fussel, an eighth- grader at the school, said the Suzuki program at Monocacy Valley gives her an edge over students who receive training at traditional public schools.

"It's really different," she said during a rehearsal last week. "Real public schools have bigger groups and they can't do one-on-one."

Paying for it

While Sunday's concert showcased a year of lessons, practices and technique, parents hope the show will generate money to help keep the program going next year.

Teresa Strahlman, a Monocacy Valley parent, estimated the program would take in $10,000 between admission and advertising revenues.

In previous years, the program was funded with grant money and donations -- the 2006-2007 school year was the first time program funding came from the school's annual allocation provided by Frederick County Public Schools.

This school year, Monocacy Valley used $21,500 of its allocation to finance the program and raised another $13,000.

The strings program costs about $34,500 a year -- roughly $3,000 less than paying a first-year 10-month teacher.

Parents would like the entire program to be funded by their school system allocation, but a remaining $100,000 in startup debt stands in their way for the fiscal 2008 budget cycle, which begins July 1.

Leslie Mansfield, a Frederick County Board of Education member and co-founder of the charter school, said school officials have wanted to draw from allocated funds for years, but the debt has kept them from doing so.

"We said OK, fundraising again, it just never got to the point in the first three years where we could say with confidence 'Let's put our school allocation money toward it,'" Mansfield said.

They expect to have to raise additional funds for the 2007-2008 school year. By fiscal 2009, funding for the program will come entirely from the school system allocation.