- State College Area School District
- State College Area School District
SCASD Named Best Community for Music Education
And the beat goes on.
For the eighth straight year, the State College Area School District has received the Best Communities for Music Education award from the nonprofit National Association of Music Merchants Foundation. The honor marks the 17th time since 2000 that the foundation has recognized SCASD for its support for music education.
NAMM chooses school districts for BCME awards based on music education funding, staffing, high standards, and access to instruction. According to the foundation, the award “recognizes and celebrates school districts and schools for their support and commitment to music education and efforts to ensure access to music for all students as part of a well-rounded education.”
At the elementary level, SCASD includes general music classes as well as, for fourth and fifth grades, instrumental lessons during the day. Additionally, fourth- and fifth-graders can participate in band, orchestra or choir ensembles before school.
Fifth-graders also can choose to play in the Partners In Music Program, a long-running collaboration between the Penn State School of Music and the district in which university faculty and students conduct a series of workshops culminating in a concert.
The district’s middle levels at Mount Nittany, Park Forest and the Delta Program offer popular band, orchestra and choir options. Mount Nittany and Park Forest also have select choirs and jazz bands.
State College Area High School students can choose from 19 perennially outstanding bands, orchestras, choirs, string ensembles and rock ensembles.