How The New Brunswick School District Expanded Its Music Program

About a decade ago, the New Brunswick School District’s music program was almost non-existent.

Last month, the school district was named among those in the nation with an “outstanding commitment to music education.”

More than 1,500 city students now participate in the music program, and according to one school official, the district’s jazz band, “will blow your socks off.”

How did this happen?

James DeWorken, the district’s special projects/special assistant to the superintendent, said it was accomplished through a commitment among school officials, parents and the city’s Board of Education to make sure music education is priority in the city.

About eight or nine years ago, the district applied to the VH1 Save the Music Foundation , which awards grants to buy instruments for elementary and middle schools.

New Brunswick initially applied for two of the city’s K-8 schools and received grant money to buy instruments. The following year, the district received another grant for the other K-8 schools. (The district now has a middle school, but when it applied to the program, all the elementary schools were K-8 schools.)

The district wound up with more than $250,000 worth of instruments for the instrumental music program, DeWorken said.

School officials did research and found that fourth-grade was believed to be the best level for students to start learning to play an instrument.

“That was really the start of it, and it has grown tremendously,’’ he said. “We probably have one of the (most) outstanding jazz bands around. We get calls all the time for them to perform.”

DeWorken said before the district received that grant money, the city’s school board also agreed to reinvest in music education.

And, when the new high school was being designed, school officials made sure there was ample room for music education there.

The district has also expanded the choral program from the high school to some of the elementary schools and the middle school.

The high school did not have a marching band, but two years ago, officials created a bleachers band that plays at football games.

In 2008, the school superintendent, Richard Kaplan, was given that year’s Administrator Award for Distinguished Support of Music Education. The award is sponsored by the VH1 Save The Music Foundation and was awarded at the American Association of School Administrator’s (AASA) National Conference on Education.

But, this year was the first time New Brunswick was named to the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Foundation’s list of the Best Communities for Music Education. It was one of 388 districts in the country and one of 27 in New Jersey named to that list.

DeWorken said the district is honored to be on the list.

“I think it’s a testimony to the kids and it’s a testimony to the district in terms of how the program has grown and the quality of the program,’’ he said.