Corey Buchanan Mar 6, 2024 Updated Mar 12, 2024
School of Rock owners Jon and Kathy Graf have helped Lake Oswego area students discover a love for music and a penchant for performance since opening the music school over 10 years ago.
The January winter storm complicated that mission. With power out overnight Monday, Jan. 15, pipes broke, leading to significant water damage in the studio on 11830 Kerr Parkway. This setback forced the Grafs to continue their mission in an alternative format as they searched for a new space.
“There’s magic in the creative process with kids. Seeing them discover things and abilities they never knew were possible is amazing … Why wouldn’t we want to keep doing this?” Jon said.
The January storm — which caused widespread property damage throughout Lake Oswego — led to a ceiling leakage as well as damaged instruments and other equipment, forcing School of Rock to leave the space and switch to online lessons.
The Grafs hope for the school to remain in the Lake Oswego area but are thankful to have found temporary rehearsal spaces in Portland. They currently conduct lessons online, but hold rehearsals in person at the Portland location.
“It’s a clunky, labor intensive situation but, to see everyone, students are so excited to be back,” Jon said.
Each rehearsal has a theme, like “Best of the 2000s” or songs by Radiohead. They have classes for young kids, older kids and adults as well as workshops and camps.
“A lot of people do lessons. We do the band component with rehearsals and performances. That’s really where the magic happens. Kids get so much better so much faster when they combine lessons and rehearsals,” Graf said.
The Grafs opted to look for a new location rather than wait likely four-to-six months for the Kerr Parkway studio to be ready. Prior to the storm, they already wanted a larger space to account for recent record enrollment and would prefer to have a fresh start somewhere else.
“A new school is a big financial investment. We want to be able to do this for another 10 years and we think we will be able to do it,” Kathy said.