Henrico Schools named one of nation's ‘Best Communities for Music Education’ for 27th straight year

Henrico County Public Schools has again been recognized as one of America’s “Best Communities for Music Education” by the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation, continuing a streak of honors that dates back to the award’s inception in 1999.

Henrico Schools and Fulton County Schools (Georgia) remain the only two school divisions in the country to have received this recognition from the NAMM Foundation during each of the award's 27 years.

“This recognition reflects the students who have stepped onto a stage, the educators who champion the arts, and the families who show up in support,” said Chris Moseley, the school division’s education specialist for performing arts. “It affirms what we’ve long believed — that music education is not a privilege but a right.”The NAMM Foundation selected 1,008 school divisions and 127 individual schools for their 2026 awards.

The organization uses several criteria to determine the honorees:

• student demographics;
• teacher/student ratio;
• music education participation rates;
• music education and/or fine arts requirements for graduation or as required by the curriculum;
• knowledge of music education electives;
• teacher qualifications;
• standards for assessing music education;
• music facilities;
• budget.

The school division’s 2026 divisionwide Teacher of the Year was choral teacher Jordyn Satterfield of Quioccasin Middle School. Satterfield grew up as an HCPS student and graduated from Deep Run High School before revitalizing Quioccasin’s music program during the past few years. She’ll be recognized at HCPS’ upcoming Teacher of the Year Banquet.

Recently, Holman and Hungary Creek middle school bands, orchestras and choruses joined forces for a concert held at the Dominion Energy Center in downtown Richmond. The event was notable not only for the hundreds of middle-schoolers who came together to perform but also for its world premiere performance of “When Winter Calls” by Sherry Blevins — a commissioned piece designed specifically for middle school musicians that will be published this fall.

The NAMM Foundation is funded by music trade association activities and donations and works to promote music education as an important part of the core educational curriculum.

For details about the “Best Communities for Music Education” program and to view other recognized school divisions, visit www.nammfoundation.org/what-we-do/bcme.