Rockwall ISD earns national music education award for 10th straight year

Rockwall ISD has again been named one of the country’s strongest districts for music education, earning The NAMM Foundation’s Best Communities for Music Education Award for the 10th consecutive year.

The recognition matters beyond the trophy case. NAMM’s 2026 program honored 1,008 school districts and 127 individual schools nationwide, and it is built around one question families care about: whether students in a district truly have access to music education, not just a few showcase programs. The foundation says the award highlights communities expanding equitable access to music learning, and applications are reviewed for funding, instructional time, participation rates, facilities and community support.

In Rockwall ISD, that access begins early. The district says its fine arts program starts in kindergarten and continues through high school, with elementary students in grades K-6 taught by certified, degreed art and music specialists. By sixth grade, students can choose band, orchestra, choir or visual arts, then expand into even more options in middle school and high school.

Rockwall ISD says middle school students can select from band, orchestra, choir, visual arts and theater. At the high school level, the menu widens to include band, orchestra, choir, theater, dance, visual arts and piano lab. That structure gives students multiple ways to stay involved as their interests change, whether they are performers, visual artists or looking for an entry point into the arts later in school.

The district’s fine arts leadership is headed by Benjamin Sumrak, and Rockwall ISD’s own announcement framed the award as a reflection of a districtwide commitment to a well-rounded education that includes academic, social, emotional and creative development. For parents weighing school choices in Rockwall County, the distinction offers a concrete measure of what the district says it invests in: staffing, classroom instruction and a sustained path into performance groups.

The honor also reinforces Rockwall ISD’s position in a county that regularly turns out for school concerts, choir events, band performances and theater productions. In a year when arts programs across the country continue to compete for time and attention, Rockwall ISD’s 10-year run suggests the district is not treating music as an extra. It is treating it as part of the core school experience.