Batavia School District's Music Program Honored For 8th Time

BATAVIA, IL — Batavia School District 101 has been honored for the eighth time for its commitment to music education, officials announced Tuesday.

Nonprofit National Association of Music Merchants Foundation gave the district its Best Communities for Music Education designation, an award it has received in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

In its 23rd year, the award goes to districts that demonstrate outstanding achievements in providing music access and education to all students, District 101 officials said. In order to qualify, the district answered questions about funding, graduation requirements, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, and support for the music programs.

School officials verified the responses, and staff at the Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas reviewed the application.

"This remarkable achievement is a continued reminder of how BPS101 values music and the impact that it has on our students and our community," Lisa Hichens, superintendent at BPS101, said in a statement. "We have the perfect combination of students who love music, amazing instructors, and a community that values well-rounded students."

District 101 officials said the designation also recognizes that the district is leading the way with learning opportunities that are outlined in the Every Student Succeeds Act.

"Music education is such an important part of Batavia, and produces so much more than the name suggests," Lisa Hatfield, elementary band teacher at the district, said in a statement. "Learning and performing music inherently take bits of other subjects like math, health, language, art, science, history, and reading, just to name a few, and combines them all into a beautiful and creative final product. It also calls for a focus on teamwork and social/emotional learning that a textbook just cannot provide. This year focused on recovery, recruitment, and retention from the pandemic years, which severely affected every music program in the country."

She continued: "Clearly, Batavia continues to value all the amazing benefits and experiences music provides our resilient students, as we instantly began building back stronger than ever with growing beginner numbers, solid retention, and sold-out live performances!"