Great Neck School District Honored For Music Program

The Great Neck School district has been recognized as among the "best communities for music education" in the country, a prestigious designation for school programs.

The NAMM Foundation, which gave the awards, is a non-profit organization with the mission of advancing active participation in music.

The honor is conferred on districts where comprehensive music education is a key part of the core curriculum. The local district was among 307 around the country to be honored, out of about 2,000 schools that were surveyed.

“There is overwhelming research tying music education to higher overall student success in school and in life,” NAMM Foundation Executive Director Mary Luehrsen said. “This designation recognizes communities for their commitment to music education and strengthens support for these programs. Having widely embraced the evidence indicating that music education yields great things in schools and communities, people are increasingly affirmative, advocating for school music curricula, and championing programs like Best Communities that recognize this commitment to music education.”

Now in its 14th year, the Best Communities in Music Education award program requires each school and district to detail funding, staffing, commitment to standards and access to music instruction. Responses are reviewed by researchers at The Institute for Educational Research and Public Service of Lawrence, Kansas (an affiliate of the University of Kansas) and the NAMM Foundation to calculate the designated districts and awarded schools.