Bristol Public Schools has been honored with the Best Communities for Music Education designation from The NAMM Foundation for its outstanding commitment to music education.
Now in its 22nd year, the Best Communities for Music Education designation is awarded to districts that demonstrate outstanding achievement in efforts to provide music access and education to all students.
To qualify for the Best Communities designation, Bristol Public Schools answered detailed questions
about funding, graduation requirements, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, support
for the music program and community music-making programs.
Responses were verified with school officials and reviewed by The Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas.
“During the pandemic, music education played a vital role in providing students an opportunity to
express themselves and assist in healing our community. Our students created virtual greeting cards
filled with recordings of themselves performing their favorite seasonal music and we sent them to the
greater Bristol community and senior centers,” said Samantha Sarli, Supervisor of Fine Arts. “This
distinction is one we have now received for five consecutive years and truly honors the amazing work of our scholars, teachers, and administrators. We are even more excited for our Bristol Fine Arts Festival, where our students will be able to perform together for the first time outdoors.”
Since the passage by Congress in 2015 of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and a stated emphasis
on a well-rounded education, many school districts have re-committed to music and arts education
programs and found that in this time of a national pandemic, they provide a valuable way to keep students engaged in school.
ESSA provides designated funding for well-rounded educational opportunities through Title IV Part A Student Academic Success and Achievement grants.
Research into music education continues to demonstrate educational/cognitive and social skill benefits for children who make music: After two years of music education, researchers found that participants showed more substantial improvements in how the brain processes speech and reading scores than their less-involved peers and that students who are involved in music are not only more likely to graduate high school, but also to attend college as well.
Everyday listening skills are stronger in musically trained children than in those without music training. Significantly, listening skills are closely tied to the ability to: perceive speech in a noisy background, pay attention, and keep sounds in memory.
Later in life, individuals who took music lessons as children show stronger neural processing of sound: young adults and even older adults who have not played an instrument for up to 50 years show enhanced neural processing compared to their peers. Not to mention, social benefits include conflict resolution, teamwork skills, and how to give and receive constructive criticism.
About The NAMM Foundation
The NAMM Foundation is a nonprofit supported in part by the National Association of Music Merchants and its approximately 10,400 members around the world. The foundation advances active participation in music making across the lifespan by supporting scientific research, philanthropic giving and public service programs. For more information about The NAMM Foundation, please visit www.nammfoundation.org.