Santa Monica, CA (Top40 Charts/ Recording Academy) The GRAMMY Foundation and its GRAMMY Signature Schools Community Award program are partnering with Converse and Journeys to provide 16 public high schools across the United States with $2,000 cash grants to support their music programs. This initiative is one of the Foundation's GRAMMY in the Schools offerings, and it is supported in part by Converse and Journeys, as well as the Ford Motor Company Fund.
"Our GRAMMY Signature Schools Community Award program evolved out of our established GRAMMY Signature Schools program," said Kristen Madsen, Senior Vice President of the GRAMMY Foundation. "The generosity of Converse and Journeys has allowed this initiative - and the music programs of the schools it benefits - to flourish. Since the program's inception, approximately $700,000 in grants has been distributed to close to 350 schools, and the impact we have seen has been profound and lasting."
This fall the following eight schools will receive $2,000 grants:
Baltimore City College High School - Baltimore
Boston Arts Academy - Boston
Chaparral High School - Las Vegas
Cleveland School of the Arts - Cleveland
East Nashville
Magnet High School - Nashville, Tenn.
Furr High School - Houston
Jones High School - Orlando, Fla.
Thurgood Marshall High School - San Francisco
The remaining eight schools will be announced in 2014.
Just as the GRAMMY Award recognizes excellence in recording, the GRAMMY Foundation's GRAMMY Signature Schools program recognizes top public high schools across the country for outstanding commitment to their music education programs. Each of the GRAMMY Signature Schools will receive a custom award and a monetary grant to benefit its music program. The top programs are designated Gold recipients. The best of the Gold recipients is designated the
National GRAMMY Signature School. For schools that are economically underserved, the GRAMMY Foundation established the Enterprise Award category to recognize the efforts in music education made by these schools. GRAMMY Signature Schools recipients are determined by the Blue Ribbon Committee, a panel of top music educators and professionals.
The GRAMMY Foundation established the GRAMMY Signature Schools Community Award as an extension of the GRAMMY Signature Schools program. Through this alliance, the GRAMMY Foundation identifies deserving public high school music programs to receive a $2,000 grant in partnership with its sponsor partners.
