RBR arts program gets national attention
School district is this year’s state nominee for Kennedy Center Award
By JOHN BURTON
Staff Writer

JEFF HUNTLEY The highly regarded performing arts program at Red Bank Regional is just part of what helped the school to receive its nomination for the national Kennedy Center Alliance for the Arts award.

Red Bank Regional High School’s visual and performing arts program has always been recognized locally as being first-rate. Now it is garnering national attention.

Recently the high school’s Board of Education was notified that the program was chosen as New Jersey’s nominee for the 2001 Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network/National School Board Association Award for its commitment to arts education.

Dr. Edward D. Westervelt, district superintendent, said this is a particularly prestigious accomplishment given that only one school district per state is up for consideration for the award.

"It certainly is well deserved considering our commitment to the arts," Westervelt said.

This is the first time the district has been tapped for consideration of this award, according to Anthony Migliaccio, director of the school’s arts program.

"You have to show a commitment to arts education by having an exemplary arts program or programs," he explained.

The school’s program was established in 1979 and encompasses seven art-oriented disciplines including commercial art, creative writing, dance, drama/theater, commercial photography, piano and vocal music. In 1983, Red Bank Regional was designated by the New Jersey School of the Arts as one of only four schools in the state certified for professional training in the arts, Migliaccio said.

Currently there are about 263 students enrolled in the program, and they come from approximately 40 districts including Jackson and Old Tappan in northern New Jersey, Migliaccio noted.

A very large portion of the students enrolled in the program do go on to post-secondary education and major in related fields, or at least maintain a considerable interest in those areas. Many of the students in the program have also received scholarships, according to Migliaccio.

The national award has been presented annually for the last 11 years to a school board that has demonstrated commitment to high-quality arts education in its school district, community, state or special jurisdiction, according to Frank Belluscio, a spokesman for the New Jersey School Board Association.

The final selection will be made this spring by the Kennedy Center Alliance and the association, Belluscio said.

In May, the board will be recognized at the 2001 Governor’s Awards in Arts Education ceremony and will receive a Governor’s Award for its achievement, Westervelt said.

The Governor’s Award is co-sponsored by the alliance and by the state’s Department of Education, Belluscio said.