William Floyd Music Department Shines Bright Throughout the School Year

It was a tremendous school year for William Floyd music across the district and this upcoming year also promises to be a great one! Along with providing memorable concerts in the winter and spring - music students also traveled to competitions, clinics, universities, festivals and showcases to hone and demonstrate their skills.

Choral students received a special award of best arrangement and were invited to an international competition to celebrate their wonderful achievement. William Floyd High School’s spring concert, Matilda: The Musical, earned top honors at the Teeny Awards for excellence in high school theater programs! William Floyd music ensembles performed at Board of Education meetings, holiday showcases, Long Island Ducks games, Flag Day ceremonies, as well as building and community events.

“We had many students selected for PEAK, LISFA and SCMEA festivals and even represented at All-State NYSSMA, NYSBDA and All-Eastern conferences,” said Dr. Amy Sckipp, coordinator of music, William Floyd School District. “At local and regional competitions, our ensembles earned top ratings of ‘Superior’ and many first-place finishes!”

This past school year, the William Floyd music program proudly sent an amazing 19 ensembles to the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) Major Organization Festival, an astounding number from any one school district. NYSSMA is a professional organization that represents more than 6,000 music teachers across New York state and is affiliated with NAfME: the National Association for Music Education. Additionally, William Floyd received the "Best Communities for Music Education" for the seventh time, an honor bestowed upon the music department by the NAMM (National Association for Music Merchants) Foundation!

Each spring, NYSSMA sponsors music festivals across the state, which local school districts volunteer to host.

“This is an authentic assessment which has been utilized for many years and has become the model for many state assessments in other academic areas,” Dr. Sckipp added. “At these festivals, students have the opportunity to perform music that is selected from the NYSSMA manual. The music is listed in six levels according to difficulty. NYSSMA Major Organization Festivals are opportunities for music teachers to bring exceptional ensembles (band, chorus, orchestra, or jazz ensemble) to perform for two specially trained adjudicators. William Floyd is unique in that we sent 19 ensembles who medaled in this adjudication earning outstanding ratings including ‘Silver,’ ‘Gold’ and the coveted ‘Gold with Distinction.’