West Orange Schools Earn National ‘Best Music Education’ Award

WEST ORANGE, NJ — It’s music to the ears of the West Orange school community.

The West Orange Public School District recently earned a 2019 award for “Best Communities for Music Education” from the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM). Now in its 20th year, the program honors schools and school districts for “outstanding efforts by teachers, administrators, parents, students, and community leaders and their support for music education as part of the core curriculum.”

Supervisor of Fine Arts Louis Quagliato said that district officials are “extremely proud” of the work that’s being accomplished in West Orange.

"We have the finest and most talented teachers working with our students every day to accomplish a common goal - to enable our students to grow musically and culturally by exposing them to various genres of music and to instill an appreciation and understanding of music by enabling every student to reach their full potential through an emphasis on music literacy," Quagliato said.

"We are grateful to have been given of this award by the NAMM Foundation for the second year in a row and will continue working to achieve this annual distinction of excellence," Quagliato added.

• See related article: West Orange Schools Among 2018 'Best Music Education' Districts
• See related article: West Orange Students Show Off Chops At Jazz Concert (VIDEO)

Learn more about the awards and see a full list of chosen school districts for 2019 here.

“It’s worth noting that we have some school communities that have received this recognition year-after-year. A few have been there for 20 years,” said Mary Luehrsen of the NAMM Foundation. “But, every year, new schools and districts are upping their game when it comes to music and the arts, often despite budget and curriculum pressures.”

Other Essex County school districts that earned 2019 NAMM awards included:

• Livingston
• Nutley
• South Orange-Maplewood
• West Essex Regional School District (North Caldwell)

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