South Orange-Maplewood School District Named a 'Best Community for Music Education'

The ages-old joke goes like this:

How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

Practice.

Having one of the best music education programs in the area helps too, as parents and students in the South Orange-Maplewood School District know.

Recently, the National Association of Music Merchants named the district one of the “Best Communities for Music Education,” a designation that Congressman Donald M. Payne, Jr. (NJ-10), called “prestigious.”

According to a release, this year, only 388 out of 13,588 school districts throughout the nation received the distinction.

“The efforts of our districts and schools to offer quality music programs are central to developing well-rounded students,” stated Payne. “I congratulate the School District of South Orange and Maplewood on earning the prestigious designation this year. I am very proud to have in my congressional district a school system so dedicated to ensuring that its students have the opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive with music.”

This is the third time the School District of South Orange and Maplewood has received the Best Community designation, according to a release.

The district also received the distinction in 2009 and 2013.