GRAMMY Foundation names Samohi one of 14 Signature Schools
By Daily Press Staff
PICO BOULEVARD Santa Monica High School was named one of 14 Signatures Schools for 2008 by the GRAMMY Foundation for its dedication to arts education.
Created in 1998, the GRAMMY Signature Schools program recognizes high schools that are making an outstanding commitment to music education.
Samohi, one of only two Signature Schools in California, will receive $1,000 from the foundation to help fund music programs.
“For the past 10 years, the GRAMMY Signature Schools program has recognized and rewarded excellence in music education at U.S. public high schools, said Neil Portnow, president/CEO of The Recording Academy and president of the GRAMMY Foundation.
“These schools maintain high quality music programs that foster and demonstrate the significant role music can play in the lives of their students,” Portnow said. “Many do so with serious economic challenges, so it is especially gratifying that we are able to award three Enterprise Awards this year. We are also grateful for the continued support of the Gibson Foundation for this program.”
Each of the 14 GRAMMY Signature Schools will receive a custom award and a monetary grant to benefit its music program. The top three are designated Gold recipients. The best of the Gold recipients is designated the National GRAMMY Signature School. The National GRAMMY Signature School will receive $10,000, and the two remaining Gold schools will each receive $5,000. In the Enterprise Award category, which recognizes efforts made by schools that are economically under-served, three schools will receive a grant of $5,000 each.
Additionally, through the Gibson Foundation, three schools will each be awarded grants of $5,000 to benefit their guitar and/or piano programs. Award presentations are made throughout the spring at the National GRAMMY Signature School, and schools that are Gold recipients, Enterprise Award winners and Gibson grantees.
The remaining five GRAMMY Signature Schools recipients will receive a grant award of $1,000 to benefit their music programs. The recipients are determined by a panel of top music educators and professionals.
The selection process for GRAMMY Signature Schools begins each year in September 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 at www.GRAMMYInTheSchools.com. 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 screening committee to determine the schools that merit Signature School status. The GRAMMY Signature Schools’ Blue Ribbon Committee selects the National school, the two Gold recipients and the two Enterprise Award schools.
The GRAMMY Foundation was established in 1989 to cultivate the understanding, appreciation and advancement of the contribution of recorded music to American culture — from the artistic and technical legends of the past to the still unimagined musical breakthroughs of future generations of music professionals.
The foundation accomplishes this mission through programs and activities that engage the music industry and cultural community as well as the general public. The foundation works in partnership year-round with The Recording Academy to bring national attention to important issues such as the value and impact of music and arts education and the urgency of preserving our rich cultural heritage.
It is the second time Samohi has been honored by the GRAMMY Foundation.
“We are so excited that the GRAMMY Foundation has once again recognized the outstanding accomplishments of our Santa Monica High School,” said Joby Brooks, president of the Santa Monica-Malibu Education Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to preserving, supporting and enhancing a comprehensive range of program within the school district, including the arts.“It is a privilege for The Education Foundation to help raise money and awareness in support of our visual and performing arts programs.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 9, 2008. Read the original PDF.