Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Joel Foundation has made an $18,000 grant to the Harmony Heights Day School. The grant, announced on May 16, will support the continuation of the Music Therapy Program, a service that aids students in strengthening social- emotional growth, well-being, and self- expression through the creation of music.
A government-funded therapeutic day school located in East Norwich, New York, Harmony Heights is primarily attended by grades 8-12 girls, who need an accommodating educational environment due to mental health challenges such as anxiety, depression, mood disorders, and trauma.
Musician Billy Joel and his wife Alexis Roderick Joel founded the Joel Foundation in 2012 to support music education and programs as a tool for learning and emotional healing. The support for music therapy and initiatives provided by the Joel Foundation has expanded access to art based opportunities for young people across Long Island and beyond. The Joel Foundation aims to prioritize the advancement of music programs as well as women’s health through this donation.
Last Spring, Harmony Heights’s Principal Tatiana Pejkovic and Alex Timoshenka, a music therapist from The Music Academy for Special Learners, met with Cheri Walsh from the Joel Foundation. Pejkovic said “the meeting decided how we could shape this music therapy program much like The Music Academy for Special Learners.” Alex Timoshenka made the proposal for the Music Therapy program to Cheri which she approved of, allowing them to begin working to establish this program for Harmony Heights students.
The Music Therapy Program was officially launched on October 25,2025 and is led by Alex Timoshenka. The program involves music-based treatments to help Harmony Heights students provide an outlet for healing that enhances the school’s educational and clinical services.
“Sometimes, students don’t yet have the words to describe how they feel, or words might not feel like enough to express the weight of their experiences.” “Music provides an opportunity to ‘speak’ for those feelings, thoughts, and experiences that students have in a safe and accessible space.”
The program runs weekly every Friday during periods 6-8 and is accessible for any student as no prior experience in music education is required. All of the instruments were donated by Ramona’s Gift to Music, a nonprofit organization which helps provide children access to music education. Students are given the opportunity to write lyrics, learn an instrument, compose songs and melodies, and garner an education in music while expressing themselves effectively. It gives the students a new and different avenue to experience therapy with artistic modalities that allow them to grow, discuss, and process through creating.
“The students love it” Principal Pejkovic remarked. “I’m always hearing them playing music in the hallways, it has turned this school into such a joyful place.”
Pejkovic and Timoshenka say they are hopeful that this grant will provide even more opportunities to expand scheduling and the program itself, and to further institute these creative therapeutic educations into our states in the future. Pejkovic also added that her next dream is to eventually have an art therapy program, to offer another creative outlet for the students with drawing and painting.
“I have always been so invested in this program and to now see such a large organization recognize the work we are doing here” Pejkovic said./ “It means everything, I can’t even put into words what this means for our program and for our students.”
For more information about Harmony Heights Day School and their programs, visit HarmonyHeights.org.
