Free music education program for youth seeks new home in NK
Published 1:30 am Friday, March 20, 2026
Kids in Concert, the only free youth music education program in Kitsap County, must find a new home by Aug. 1 or risk closure.
West Sound Academy, the International Baccalaureate school in Poulsbo where KIC has been housed for about three years, notified program leaders that it will not renew the program’s lease for 2026 on Feb. 12, citing the school’s own evolving programming and operational needs.
The change came as a surprise and puts the program in a difficult position, said KIC director Rebecca Marchand.
The West Sound location met many of the program’s needs: in Poulsbo, it was relatively accessible for most students, had multiple rooms of varied sizes and some secure storage space for equipment. Over the three years at WSA, KIC grew from about 60 to 91 students, with an additional 32 students on its waitlist.
“A program of this size and scope is tricky to immediately plug and play into another location. A centralized North Kitsap location is really a priority for us, and also is the problem, in and of itself — finding a space that can offer multiple breakout rooms that can host,” said Marchand. “Only once a week do we have our full program together, but that’s a once a week that we do have 90 students there. It’s a core part of our program to have the ability for our students, ages six through 18, to come together, to be with their mentors, to really find that place of belonging across all ages.”
KIC aims to provide music education to students who otherwise may not have access to resources for it at home or at school. It hosts two programs: one during the school year, an entirely free course that meets four days per week and provides instruction in five different musical instruments, choir, lessons in music theory, and holds performances throughout the year; and one two-week musical theater summer camp for students in first through sixth grade.
In 2023, the Seattle Symphony selected KIC as a “community partner” program, a designation reflecting KIC’s quality of music education. KIC students have performed in two concerts with the Seattle Symphony, including at Benaroya Hall in April 2024, in a program featuring Native American musicians from across the region.
Most students who attend KIC are from North Kitsap communities — Suquamish, Port Gamble S’Klallam, Indianola, Hansville, Kingston, Poulsbo, and Bainbridge Island — and just over half are Black, Indigenous or People of Color (BIPOC), including about 17 enrolled tribal members and about 27 students who qualify for Free or Reduced School Lunch.
As schools facing budget cuts or difficult financial conditions start to trim extracurricular programs, programs like KIC can fill the gaps, said Jason Koontz, a longtime fourth-grade teacher at Suquamish Elementary. Every single student who has participated in KIC has graduated high school, per the program’s website.
“KIC has offered a source of pride and feeling of community for so many of my students over the years. This program is one of the greatest opportunities our kids have, and it would be a major blow to lose it,” Koontz said.
So far, KIC has contacted several churches around North Kitsap and explored the possibility of integrating into after-school programming at public schools in the area. But no one place has met all of KIC’s needs so far — a central location, large enough to accommodate the existing class size and available frequently, on a regular schedule.
Community members who want to support KIC can help by spreading the word about their need to relocate, Marchand added.
“We would love to continue to grow and be able to support all of our students off the wait list. This was an unexpected change. The focus will be just stabilizing at a new location and then continuing to work on our evolving programming,” said Marchand.
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