Mount Pleasant Central School District Receives National Recognition for Music Education Support

To qualify for the Best Communities designation, MTPLCSD answered detailed questions about funding, graduation requirements, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, support for the music program and community music-making programs. Responses were verified by school officials and reviewed by The Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas.

"The K-12 Music Program in Mount Pleasant is absolutely a point of pride for the district. Our teachers are gifted educators and musicians and, each day, they share their talent and expertise with our students,” said Erin Sica, Westlake Middle School Band Director and Department Chair. “The program embeds a love and appreciation of music, as well as cultivating discipline, teamwork, cross-cultural sensitivity, opportunities to build self- confidence and an aesthetic form of expression. Through participation in our music offerings, our students gain skills and experiences that will serve them in school and beyond. We are grateful to the Mount Pleasant community for their unwavering support."

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. In addition, everyday listening skills are stronger in musically trained children than 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 Mount Pleasant Central School District

The Mount Pleasant Central School District is located in the heart of Westchester County and serves approximately 2,000 students in grades K-12. The district encompasses the hamlets of Hawthorne and Thornwood, as well as portions of Valhalla and Pleasantville. Mount Pleasant Central School District comprises four schools: Hawthorne Elementary (K-2), Columbus Elementary (3-5), Westlake Middle School (6-8) and Westlake High School (9-12). The middle and high school share the same campus along with the District Office. Our district is a member of the Tri-State Consortium of high-performing school districts. For more information please visit www.mtplcsd.org. 

About The NAMM Foundation

The NAMM Foundation is a nonprofit supported in part by the National Association of Music Merchants and its 15,000 global member companies and individual professionals worldwide. 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.