For the fifth time in six years, Cortez Middle School’s music program has been honored with the SelectMusic Merit Award from the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation in recognition of its commitment to musical achievement and inclusive music education.
The school is one of only 87 nationwide to receive the distinction in 2025. The award celebrates programs that demonstrate consistent efforts to provide music access to all students, regardless of background or demographics.
To qualify for the award, the music faculty at the school answered questions about funding, enrollment, participation, instruction time, administration and community support, facilities, awards and teachers’ qualifications.
The responses from schools were reviewed and verified by national arts education research firm WolfBrown.
“The application process is intense,” Andrew Campo, CMS band teacher, told The Journal. “It involves collecting a large amount of data from many sources that must be accurate, of course. The essay questions are in depth and there are many of them. It usually takes me two to three weeks to complete the entire application.”
This award includes all the middle school’s music offerings, including band, choir, jazz band, piano, before-school music tutoring and more.
“It is a reflection of the hard work, dedication and commitment of the teachers, students, administrators and parents at M-CMS as well as the community as a whole,” Campo said. “It is exciting for our little school to be recognized consistently at the national level. As our program continues to grow in size, I am proud that we have been able to keep our standards and expectations high and continue to perform and achieve at a superior level. Thank you to all who support our program and our students.”
