Beachwood Named A Best District For Music Education

BEACHWOOD, OH - The Beachwood School District is one of the nation's 527 best school systems for music education, according to the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation (NAMM). The organization announced the Best Communities for Music Education on April 4, with Beachwood making the cut.

NAMM celebrates districts every year for their commitment to music education. The districts are chosen based off a survey, a variety of factors, and research done with the The Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas. Specifically, the Best Communities for Music Education (BCME) program and the SupportMusic Merit Award evaluate schools and districts based on funding, staffing of highly qualified teachers, commitment to standards and access to music instruction.

Beachwood is called out in the press release from NAMM announcing the honorees. The organization touted the district's ongoing collaboration with the Cleveland Orchestra. In November 2016, the Cleveland Orchestra played a concert in the new Beachwood High School Auditorium, and were joined by the Beachwood High School Orchestra.

"We are honored to be recognized for an 11th consecutive year. We believe a quality and diverse arts education is as important to a student's educational experience as the core curricular courses and we are pleased to offer a variety of visual and performing arts courses throughout the district," a district spokesperson told Patch.

Recently, the Orchestra also took a trip to Budapest, which you can watch a snippet of below.

The BCME program has been around for 18 years. The goal of the program is to encourage music education across the nation.

“Studying music has intrinsic benefits and, on its own, is core to learning. Also, the links between student success and music education have now been demonstrated by brain researchers in multiple studies,” said Mary Luehrsen, executive director of The NAMM Foundation, in a press release. “The schools and districts our foundation recognizes are building on that connection between music and academics. These schools and districts are models for other educators who see music as a key ingredient in a well-rounded curriculum that makes music available to all children, regardless of zip code.”

You can find a complete list of BCME districts by clicking here.

Photo from Beachwood Schools