TENAFLY — The Thurnauer School of Music, part of the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades, has received a grant of $10,000 from the Horizon Foundation for New Jersey. The grant will help fund the Music Discovery Partnership with the Englewood Public School District and will be applied specifically to help cover the cost of an independent evaluator for the decade-long program.

"We are thrilled to receive this grant from the Horizon Foundation as we work together with Englewood administrators and teachers to improve the partnership. Having an objective voice to evaluate these programs will help us move to a new level of excellence for our shared children," said Music School Director Dorothy Kaplan Roffman.

Since 1997, the JCC Thurnauer School of Music has been collaborating with the Englewood Public Schools on a partnership of increasing scope and breadth that includes several programs for students.

The goal of the programs is to bring the world of music to children who lack this opportunity and enable the most motivated to become part of a community of learners at the Thurnauer School. Also, a goal is to use music study as a vehicle to nurture qualities of self-discipline, teamwork, focus and goal orientation.

Nearly 250 students are currently served by the Music Discovery Partnership, which is also supported by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the Community Chest, Bay and Paul Foundations, Puffin Foundation, Lillian P. Schenck Foundation and CIBC World Markets USA.

The JCC Thurnauer School of Music serves over 450 students in northern New Jersey and beyond. It also serves as an area cultural resource by presenting over 30 concerts annually as well as master classes with world-renowned artists. The school is a member of the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts and an integral part of the Kaplen Jewish Community Center on the Palisades. JCC membership is not a requirement for enrollment or financial aid at the Thurnauer School, which is also supported, in part, by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.