Berea Schools Named 1 Of Nation's Best For Music Education

BEREA, OH - The Berea City School District is once again being honored for its commitment to music education. This time the district is being honored by the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation (NAMM) as one of the 527 best districts in the US for music education.

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.

Berea was named one of the Best Communities for Music Education. Berea Board of Education President Ana Chapman took to Facebook to celebrate the honor.

"Congratulations and thank you to all of our K-12 music educators who continue to instill a love of the arts in our students and enrich all of our lives with their performances," she wrote.

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.

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