Clover Hill High School Orchestras

Midlothian, Virginia

Thank you for encouraging your child's musical pursuits. We know your time and your child's time is precious, and we are honored that you have chosen instrumental music as a worthwhile use of that time. There is a growing trend of students being advised to drop their music ensemble classes in favor of other courses because it is believed these other courses will look more impressive to colleges. Here is some information from peer-reviewed scholarly research to help you and your child make informed decisions about their future pursuits. If you are interested in discussing this information further, please contact me!

  • Instrumental music students have higher academic performance than non-music students (Young et al., 2014; Guhn et al., 2020; Elpus, 2022)

  • Students who are actively engaged in instrumental music classes have significantly higher standardized test scores in Math, Science, and English than students who are not involved in instrumental music (Guhn et al., 2020)

  • This effect increased the longer a student is involved in instrumental music, and higher musical achievement (greater proficiency on their instrument) is positively correlated with higher academic achievement (Guhn et al., 2020)

  • Instrumental music students are significantly more likely to major in a STEM field than non-music students (Elpus, 2022)

  • Both music and non-music students are accepted into highly selective colleges at an equal rate; this means that continuing to study music does not hurt your child's chances of getting into a great college (Elpus, 2022)

  • Instrumental music students possess higher executive functioning skills than non-music students. These skills help them be successful academically, socially, and emotionally (Guhn et al., 2020)

  • Many scientists, engineers, and medical professionals are instrumental musicians and continue to play their instruments throughout their lives (I can share so many stories, feel free to ask!)

Want to see us perform?

“Besides being very enthusiastic about music, Mrs. Grooms is a very welcoming teacher. From my experience, she has tried to become every orchestra student’s favorite teacher by accommodating all our needs and preferences.”— former student

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