The Batavia Public School District (BPS101) has been honored with the Best Communities for Music Education designation from The NAMM Foundation for its outstanding commitment to music education. BPS101 is one of only 22 districts in Illinois to receive the designation this year.
Now in its 23rd 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, BPS101 answered detailed questions about funding, graduation requirements, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, and support for the music programs. Responses were then verified with school officials and reviewed by The Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas.
“This remarkable achievement is a continued reminder of how BPS101 values music and the impact that it has on our students and our community," says Dr. Lisa Hichens, Superintendent at BPS101. “We have the perfect combination of students who love music, amazing instructors, and a community that values well-rounded students.”
This award recognizes that BPS101 is leading the way with learning opportunities as outlined in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The legislation guides implementation in the states and replaces the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) which was often criticized for an overemphasis on testing while leaving behind subjects such as music. ESSA recommends music and the arts as important elements of a well-rounded education for all children.
“Music education is such an important part of Batavia, and produces so much more than the name suggests”, says Lisa Hatfield, elementary band teacher at BPS101. “Learning and performing music inherently take bits of other subjects like math, health, language, art, science, history, and reading, just to name a few, and combines them all into a beautiful and creative final product. It also calls for a focus on teamwork and social/emotional learning that a textbook just cannot provide. This year focused on recovery, recruitment, and retention from the pandemic years, which severely affected every music program in the country. Clearly, Batavia continues to value all the amazing benefits and experiences music provides our resilient students, as we instantly began building back stronger than ever with growing beginner numbers, solid retention, and sold-out live performances!”
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 that 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 NAMM Foundation
The NAMM Foundation is a nonprofit supported in part by the National Association of Music Merchants and its approximately 10,300 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.
About BPS101
At BPS101, we take our mission very seriously: To help students learn and grow in all aspects of their development. Our 700 staff members have all dedicated themselves to ensuring that our learning environments are productive, safe, and supportive. Their efforts help the nearly 6,000 students find their passions, engage in challenging work, and develop into educated, caring citizens. Our mission is evident in all that we do, and the impact is enormous.
For more information, please visit our website at www.BPS101.net, or call (630) 937-8800.
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