Frequently Asked Questions

At Education Flow, our services are grounded in rigorous academic research, rich teaching experience, hands-on practice and practical application. Leveraging these foundations, we actively contribute to the field by authoring scholarly papers and books, delivering lectures at esteemed colleges and universities, conducting staff development workshops, providing mentorship to educators, and engaging as speakers at conferences. Our overarching goal is to propel the integration of music in school, recognizing its dynamic potential as a valuable resource within the realm of education.

Patrick Cerria is expanding and reimagining the role of music, and music educators, in school. He is the Director of Education Flow, a New Jersey Nonprofit Corporation. Education Flow serves as a way to apply for grants and funding to further his innovative work. 

Patrick recently published/presented an academic study on the effectiveness of music based strategies on Autistic children with speech delays, and is now collaborating with a fellow music researcher on a larger study that will go deeper into that area. He also had a paper published in the international music research journal Le Rythme alongside 12 other researchers from around the world. Patrick’s book, Finding The Flow: How Dalcroze Eurythmics and A New Approach to Music Education Can Improve Public Schools, is currently on the syllabus for a graduate music education course at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, where he is also a guest lecturer. His book was selected as a featured title for the SXSW EDU Conference bookstore in 2022, 2023 and 2024 in Austin, Texas. Patrick was recently asked to contribute a lecture to the Berklee College of Music Digital Learning Platform.

Balancing his commitment to education, Patrick works as the music teacher for a public county school district, teaching developmentally and emotionally diverse student populations. He recently received a grant to develop a curriculum that uses music to teach mathematical algorithms to at-risk students, and is currently implementing that curriculum in a high school math class.

Patrick’s passion for music education is rooted in his studies in Dalcroze Eurhythmics. He completed a three-year study in eurhythmics at The Juilliard School in Manhattan, and is currently in the next phase of his studies at The Marta Sanchez Dalcroze Training Center at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. 

Prior to his career in education, Patrick spent over ten years as a professional touring musician, concluding as the percussionist/instrumentalist for the band Fossil, which recorded two albums for Warner Brothers records and toured internationally. He and his wife, Laura, have been married for over twenty-five years.

According to the National Center for Educational Statistics - 15% of American public school children require special education services. That's 7.3 million children nationwide. In addition to these populations, the CDC reports the following data related to children's mental health ages 2-17:

- 9.8% have an ADHD diagnosis (approximately 6.0 million)

- 9.4% have an anxiety diagnosis (approximately 5.8 million)

- 8.9% have a behavioral classification (approximately 5.5 million)

- 4.4% have a diagnosis of depression (approximately 2.7 million)

Are your music teachers:

- Currently available to classroom teachers to implement music based classroom management strategies?

- Available to behaviorally classified students to assist in self-regulation protocols?

- Available to school speech or occupational therapists to enhance their protocols?

- Providing SEL lessons and exercises? 

Most tend to view music in school within the classic context of band, chorus, orchestra or general music class. Of course we still believe these are essential to a child's complete education ⏤ but also believe music is one of the most underused resources in schools today. 

It's time to change that.

The music toolbox runs deep, and the tools music provides can be used to enhance lesson plans, improve social and emotional learning, assist with student/teacher classroom dynamics, and many other things. At Education Flow we see music beyond the notes and believe it can be used in a number of dynamic and creative ways that can benefit your entire school.

Let us come in and show you how!

Please call or email us directly with any questions. You can also go to our form to request a meeting.

We think of our workshops as a combination music/design/art studio combined with a laboratory. Teachers always tell us how excited they were because they were moving, interacting, and creating together for the duration of the workshop. Our staff development does NOT involve teachers sitting in chairs for extended periods of time watching Powerpoint decks. We are up, moving, laughing, creating and interacting together. 

• "We had 64 teachers complete the evaluation forms. There were 53 perfect scores of highest rating/very/most effective. Thank you again for a fabulous workshop!"  - Supervisor of Instruction, NJ school district

Here's a sample of what what teachers are saying about our staff development workshops:

• "The best workshop I’ve ever attended!"
• "Sample activities & classrooms suggestions were fantastic!"
•  "A perfect blend of fun games & motivational discussion."
• "Patrick was engaging and I learned so much."
• "Informative & entertaining – a great combo."
• "The strategies were practical, fun and useful."
• "Engaging, fun, collaborative, interactive."
• "Bringing laughter back to teaching!"
• "Best Ever. Great ideas and insights into classroom management as well as lesson activities! Revolutionary, really!"