The GRAMMY Foundation announced that Neuqua Valley High School is this year’s National GRAMMY Signature School. This is the second time the school has earned this prestigious honor, which recognizes top U.S. public high schools that are making an outstanding commitment to music education. Neuqua Valley was previously named the top school for music education in 2005.
As the Nation’s top high school for music excellence, the GRAMMY Foundation will present Neuqua Valley with a check for $10,000 along with its own GRAMMY statue.
District 204’s other two high schools, Metea Valley and Waubonsie Valley, were also selected as semi-finalist this year. “It’s remarkable that all three of our high schools were selected as semi-finalists, and truly wonderful to have one recognized as the top school in the country,” said Superintendent Kathy Birkett.
“For the past 15 years, our GRAMMY Signature Schools program has been providing much-needed financial resources and recognizing excellence in schools across the U.S. whose music programs have a positive impact on the lives of their students,” said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy and the GRAMMY Foundation. “We’re extremely grateful to our sponsors, whose generous support has allowed this initiative to grow. This program also was one source of inspiration behind the new Music Educator Award being presented by The Recording Academy and the GRAMMY Foundation that will honor music’s unsung heroes — the teachers who spend their days in classrooms encouraging music’s next generation.”
The selection process for GRAMMY Signature Schools begins each year in August 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. 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 blue-ribbon committee of top music educators and professionals to determine the schools that merit GRAMMY Signature School status.
