The Community Conservatory is the oldest and largest non-profit 501(c) 3 organization community arts school in Bucks County. Founded by Ms. Eleanor Gross in 1988. It had been her dream for many years to start a school to provide high quality music instruction for the residents of Central Bucks County and the surrounding Delaware Valley. Eleanor or “Dolly,” gathered together a dedicated group of local musicians, music educators and business leaders. The dream became reality when Mrs. Gross connected with Delaware Valley College. The president’s house was the conservatory’s first home and initial offerings included private instruction in piano, organ, voice and strings. Almost 23 years later, the relationship remains strong between Del Val and CCM.

The Conservatory embarked upon a great start through the boundless enthusiasm and determination of Ms. Gross and the founding Board of Directors. We soon outgrew the space at the Del Val, and in 1991, moved to a stone house located on Swamp Road in Plumstead Township. Currently inhabited by Allstate, this new home provided twice the space, allowing the conservatory to grow over the next couple of years.

Through the quality of our instruction and the success of new programs, the number of students continued to increase significantly. This led to a need for larger accommodations. As a result, in 1993 we moved into an elegant Victorian mansion on Court Street in Doylestown. We spent many glorious years in this beautiful setting and generated thousands of new, artistic relationships.

In August 2005, we moved to our new location at 4459 W. Swamp Road in Doylestown. We choose the location because of its historic significance. A 160-year-old barn, complete with exposed beams and stonewalls made our decision easy. In September of 2008, we helped form Elite Strings that serves over 80 dedicated string players at North Penn Church of Christ in Montgomeryville. For the last 6 years we have carved out new space, programs and amazing amount of life out of this grandiose building. Most recently we opened a satellite at St. Andrews School in Newtown.