Program Health

Over the past two months, it feels like I have watched more webinars than I have in the last two years. I am sure that is the case for many of you.

Yamaha Corporation of America joined more than 50 other organizations to endorse the National Association for Music Education’s “Arts Education Is Essential” unified statement. NAfME and all the endorsing organizations recognize the necessity for students to have access to arts education, which includes music, dance, theater, visual arts and media arts.

The 2019-2020 school year is coming to an end in a way that no one could have foreseen. The last two and a half months of the school year was a learn-as-you-go experiment as teachers and students embraced online and remote learning – but you survived!  

Update: The deadline to apply for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund has passed. Please refer to Funding Resource Roundup and How to Get Funds from ESSA’s Title IV-A Grant Program for information about federal funds. We are living in challenging and unprecedented times, requiring intervention from the federal government. On March 27, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act was passed. Last week, the U.S. Department of Education announced that $30.75 billion of the CARES Act will be distributed through four grant programs to address the impact of COVID-19 on students, K-12 schools and higher education institutions. This allotment is new grant money and not part of Title IV-A or other grant programs. 

Electric string ensembles in school music programs are not the far-fetched idea they once were. Hundreds of high school and middle school programs have added electric quartets, quintets and more to their existing orchestra programs. In this article, we’ll take a look at the things you’ll need to get started.

Cle Elum, Washington, is a small town with a population of about 2,000 and a school district serving approximately 900 students in K-12 — but that doesn’t stop the power of music flowing through it.

Funding can be a major obstacle to growing a music program. For the past five years, Nick Maupoux, band and choir director for Cle Elum-Roslyn School District, has overcome this hurdle through grant writing and using the following strategies.

Updated 6/29/2020 at 8:51 a.m. PDT We want to do our part to help music educators as you explore options and search for resources to facilitate online teaching.

With the passage in December 2015 of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), also known as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, music was named as one of the subjects that provides students with a "well-rounded education."

"Music for all, and all for music" is a goal that all music educators strive for, but unfortunately, access to music in schools isn't a guarantee.