Nice support material.  Mariachi instruction does seem like an innovative program.

Timeline seemed very general.

Is the Mariachi instruction open to all students in the school district? 

What are the measures used to determine improved self esteem and educational success?

I would recommend attaching a video of the mariachi band.

I did go to your website and found a great video. Congrats. They are wonderful.

Also, you should consider having a staff person repsonsible for Accessibility Compliance to garner a few more points on your score.

Objectives were listed under Activities (suggest format change in future). Timeline should address timing of program activities that support the program goals and objectives, not the grant contract timeline.

Need a staff person responsible for accessibility compliance. 

Excellence:

• This is a fantastic mission, thank you for your work in bringing the arts to those in need.
• Do the participants have to pay any fees to participate?
• Be cautious not to conflate goals and objective.  Goals should be your over-arching guidelines while objective are specific and measurable ways in which to achieve your goals.

Impact:

• While the details regarding the region are of interest, it would be more beneficial to see more proposal-specific impact details.  E.g., how students are recruited & retained, costs associated with participating, and any local economic development brought by the proposal.
• More details for marketing and promotion are needed.  Include such things as social media likes, followers, mentions, as well as print media utilization.  

Management:

• In the evaluation plan, we need to see the following:
  • Types of evaluation utilized by instructor.  
  • How ability is demonstrated?
  • How will self-esteem, discipline, and appreciation of Mexican culture be assessed?
  • Grades, home life, and workforce placement would be VERY challenging to attribute to participation in the conservatory.  It would be best to incorporate interviews and case studies while tracking former participants to gather data regarding their personal successes and memories.
• Budget:
  • Administrative overhead is MUCH too high for an organization such as this.  More focus should be upon programmatic services and marketing of this program.
  • Income details are severely lacking. It is hard to assess the budget without knowing which contracted services and revenue: other is bringing in funding for the organization.
  • Very nice to see the requested funds go directly to the teachers and student experience.