Forty-two schools nationwide recognized for their commitment to music education
GRAMMY.com
The GRAMMY Foundation today announced 42 schools nationwide that have been selected as GRAMMY Signature Schools for 2006. Presented by 7 UP, the GRAMMY Signature Schools program was created in 1998 to recognize top U.S. public high schools that are making an outstanding commitment to music education during an academic school year.
Determined by a panel of top music educators and professionals, Pioneer High School, Ann Arbor, Mich., was named the National GRAMMY Signature School. Schools awarded Gold status are: Booker T. Washington High School, Dallas, Texas; Flower Mound High School, Flower Mound, Texas; High School for the Performing & Visual Arts, Houston, Texas; Las Vegas International Academy, Las Vegas, Nev.; Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, Los Angeles; and South Salem High School, Salem, Ore. The GRAMMY Signature Schools Enterprise Award recipients are: Brooklyn Center High School, Brooklyn Center, Minn., and Duke Ellington School of Arts, Washington, D.C.
"The GRAMMY Signature Schools program highlights schools across the country that are dedicated to offering exemplary music programs," said Recording Academy and GRAMMY Foundation President Neil Portnow. "Music has a profound impact on the lives of young people, and it is inspiring that these schools strive for excellence in their curricula and continue to generate positive effects for their students."
Each of the 42 GRAMMY Signature Schools will receive a custom award and a monetary grant to benefit its music program. The top seven are designated Gold recipients. The best of the Gold recipients is designated the National GRAMMY Signature School. The National GRAMMY Signature School will receive $20,000, and the six remaining Gold schools each will receive $5,000. In the Enterprise Award category, which recognizes efforts made by schools that are economically underserved, two schools will receive a grant of $15,000 each. Additionally, through Gibson Guitar, three schools will be each awarded additional grants of $5,000 to benefit their guitar and/or piano programs.
Award presentations are made throughout the spring at the National GRAMMY Signature School, schools that are Gold recipients, Enterprise Award winners, and Gibson Guitar grantees. The remaining GRAMMY Signature Schools recipients each will receive a grant award of $1,000 to benefit their music programs.
"These outstanding high schools have established a genuine commitment to music education," said Gerald Johnson, Vice President, Marketing Resources, 7 UP. "We are proud to sponsor the GRAMMY Foundation's Signature Schools program, and recognize the importance of music and arts education in the lives of young people."
The selection process for GRAMMY Signature Schools begins in September when the GRAMMY Foundation mails notification to more than 20,000 public high schools from districts large and small, urban, suburban and rural, requesting information about each school's music program. Applications are completed and submitted online in October at www.grammyintheschools.com. After the applications are scored, finalists are identified and asked to submit additional documentation, such as recordings of school concerts, sample concert programs and repertoire, which is then reviewed by an independent screening committee to determine the schools that merit Signature School status. The GRAMMY Signature Schools Blue Ribbon Committee selects the National school, the six Gold recipients and the two Enterprise Award schools.
A complete list of GRAMMY Signature Schools recipients can be found here.