Grammy Foundation Announces 2016 Signature Schools Semifinalists

The GRAMMY Foundation® (www.grammyfoundation.org) announced today that 119 schools nationwide have been selected as GRAMMY® Signature Schools semifinalists (www.grammyintheschools.com) for 2016. Created in 1998, the GRAMMY Signature Schools program recognizes top U.S. public high schools that are making an outstanding commitment to music education during an academic school year.

Each of the GRAMMY Signature Schools finalists will receive a custom award and monetary grant to benefit its music program. The top programs are designated Gold recipients, and the best program of the Gold recipients is designated as the National GRAMMY Signature School. The remaining schools are designated as GRAMMY Signature Schools. For schools that are economically underserved, the GRAMMY Foundation established the Enterprise Award to recognize the efforts these schools have made in music education. A list of semifinalist schools in the Enterprise Award category will be posted in mid-December at www.grammyintheschools.com. The GRAMMY Signature Schools program is made possible in part by the generous support of Converse, Ford Motor Company Fund, Hot Topic Foundation, Journeys, Les Paul Foundation, and RBC Foundation USA.

The GRAMMY Foundation has also established the GRAMMY Signature Schools Community Award, an extension of the GRAMMY Signature Schools program. Through our partnership with Converse, the Hot Topic Foundation, Journeys, Les Paul Foundation, Brookfield Properties and the RBC Foundation USA, the GRAMMY Foundation identifies deserving public high school music programs to receive the award and a $2,000 grant. To date, 500 awards totaling approximately $1 million in grants have been distributed to high school music programs.

"From our perspective, many public high schools across the country provide top notch music education programs for their students-often working with very limited financial means," said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy® and the GRAMMY Foundation. "Our GRAMMY Signature Schools program steps in to augment those resources with cash grants, and to celebrate the excellence of these programs and the beneficial and lasting effects of a music curriculum in the lives of young people. We are especially excited to celebrate a landmark in our GRAMMY Signature Schools Community Award program, which has awarded its 500th grant since the initiative began in 2010."

In mid-March 2016, the GRAMMY Foundation will announce the finalists for the GRAMMY Signature Schools program. These schools will receive a custom award and a monetary grant ranging from $1,000 up to $6,000 to benefit their music program.

2016 GRAMMY Signature Schools Semifinalists:

Academy of Music and Performing Arts at Hamilton High School - Los Angeles
Allen High School - Allen, Texas
Ann Arbor Pioneer High School - Ann Arbor, Mich.
Arizona School for the Arts - Phoenix
Arnold O. Beckman High School - Irvine, Calif.
Bangor Area High School - Bangor, Pa.
Basic Academy of International Studies - Henderson, Nev.
Batavia High School - Batavia, Ill.
Bettendorf High School - Bettendorf, Iowa
Canyon Crest Academy - San Diego
Carmel High School - Carmel, N.Y.
Central High School - Memphis, Tenn.
Chelmsford High School - North Chelmsford, Mass.
Chicago High School for the Arts - Chicago
Chippewa Falls Senior High School - Chippewa Falls, Wis.
Comsewogue High School - Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.
Coronado High School - Henderson, Nev.
Crestwood High School - Sumter, S.C.
Davis Senior High School - Davis, Calif.
Douglas Anderson School of the Arts - Jacksonville, Fla.
Dover-Eyota High School - Eyota, Minn.
Duxbury High School - Duxbury, Mass.
East Meadow High School - East Meadow, N.Y.
Eastern High School - Louisville, Ky.
Eau Claire High School - Columbia, S.C.
Eldred Junior/Senior High School - Eldred, N.Y.
Elk Grove High School - Elk Grove Village, Ill.
Esperanza High School - Anaheim, Calif.
Fairview High School - Boulder, Colo.
Firelands High School - Oberlin, Ohio
Fox Chapel Area High School - Pittsburgh
Fredonia High School - Fredonia, N.Y.
Freeport High School - Freeport, Ill.
Freeport High School - Freeport, N.Y.
Garden City High School - Garden City, N.Y.
George W. Hewlett High School - Hewlett, N.Y.
Girard Academic Music Program - Philadelphia
Gladys Porter Early College High School - Brownsville, Texas
Green Bay East High School - Green Bay, Wis.
Green Valley High School - Henderson, Nev.
Guilderland High School - Guilderland Center, N.Y.
Harry D. Jacobs High School - Algonquin, Ill.
Hellgate High School - Missoula, Mont.
Herricks High School - New Hyde Park, N.Y.
Horace Greeley High School - Chappaqua, N.Y.
Howards Grove High School - Howards Grove, Wis.
Huntington High School - Huntington, N.Y.
Iowa City West High School - Iowa City, Iowa
Irvine High School - Irvine, Calif.
James "Nikki" Rowe High School - McAllen, Texas
John B. Alexander High School - Laredo, Texas
John L. Miller Great Neck North High School - Great Neck, N.Y.
L.B. Landry-O.P. Walker College and Career Preparatory High School - New Orleans
Lakewood High School - Lakewood, Ohio
Lane Tech College Prep - Chicago
Las Vegas Academy of the Arts - Las Vegas
Lebanon High School - Lebanon, Ohio
Legacy High School - North Las Vegas, Nev.
Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts - Bethlehem, Pa.
Lexington High School - Lexington, Ala.
Liverpool High School - Liverpool, N.Y.
Long Beach High School - Lido Beach, N.Y.
Los Alamitos High School - Los Alamitos, Calif.
Loveland High School - Loveland, Colo.
Martin Luther King Jr. Academic Magnet High School - Nashville, Tenn.
Mauldin High School - Mauldin, S.C.
McCluer South-Berkeley High School - Ferguson, Mo.
Memorial Valley Stream Central High School - Valley Stream, N.Y.
Metea Valley High School - Aurora, Ill.
Miller Place High School - Miller Place, N.Y.
Mission Viejo High School - Mission Viejo, Calif.
Mojave High School - North Las Vegas, Nev.
Nederland High School - Nederland, Colo.
New Hope-Solebury High School - New Hope, Pa.
New Trier High School - Winnetka, Ill.
North Allegheny Senior High School - Wexford, Pa.
Northwood High School - Irvine, Calif.
Octorara Senior High School - Atglen, Pa.
Orange County School of the Arts - Santa Ana, Calif.
Ossining High School - Ossining, N.Y.
Patrick Henry High School - Roanoke, Va.
Paul D. Schreiber High School - Port Washington, N.Y.
Philomath High School - Philomath, Ore.
Plainedge High School - North Massapequa, N.Y.
Plymouth Whitemarsh High School - Plymouth Meeting, Pa.
Princeton Township High School - Princeton, Ill.
Prospect High School - Mount Prospect, Ill.
Pulaski High School - Pulaski, Wis.
Queensbury High School - Queensbury, N.Y.
Rancho Mirage High School - Rancho Mirage, Calif.
Ripon High School - Ripon, Wis.
Rockford High School - Rockford, Mich.
Rocky Mountain High School - Fort Collins, Colo.
Spring High School - Spring, Texas
St. Michael-Albertville High School - St. Michael, Minn.
Staples High School - Westport, Conn.
StarShine Academy Creative Community School - Phoenix
State College Area High School - State College, Pa.
Sterling High School - Sterling, Kan.
Sunset High School - Portland, Ore.
Tempe High School - Tempe, Ariz.
Tesoro High School - Las Flores, Calif.
University High School - Irvine, Calif.
Verdugo Hills High School - Tujunga, Calif.
W.T. Clarke High School - Westbury, N.Y.
Walnut High School - Walnut, Calif.
Walt Whitman High School - Huntington Station, N.Y.
Warren Central High School - Indianapolis
Waterville Senior High School - Waterville, Maine
Waubonsie Valley High School - Aurora, Ill.
Wausau West High School - Wausau, Wis.
West Ottawa High School - Holland, Mich.
West Port High School - Ocala, Fla.
Western High School - Russiaville, Ind.
William A. Shine Great Neck South High School - Great Neck, N.Y.
Wilmer Amina Carter High School - Rialto, Calif.
Windsor High School - Windsor, N.Y.
Woodbridge High School - Irvine, Calif.
York Community High School - Elmhurst, Ill.
The selection process for GRAMMY Signature Schools begins each year in August when the GRAMMY Foundation mails notifications 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 blue-ribbon committee of top music educators and professionals to determine the schools that merit GRAMMY Signature School status.

The GRAMMY Foundation was established in 1988 to cultivate the understanding, appreciation and advancement of the contribution of recorded music to American culture. 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 its founder, 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. In recognition of the significant role of teachers in shaping their students' musical experiences, the GRAMMY Foundation and The Recording Academy partnered to present the first Music Educator AwardTM in 2014. Open to current U.S. music teachers in kindergarten through college, the third annual Music Educator Award will be given out during GRAMMY Week 2016. For more information on the Music Educator Award, please visit www.grammymusicteacher.com. For more information about the Foundation, please visit www.grammyfoundation.org. For breaking news and exclusive content, please "like" GRAMMY in the Schools® on Facebook, follow the GRAMMY Foundation on Twitter @GRAMMYFdn and join us on Instagram @GRAMMYFdn.