Waterford High School recognizes and embraces the multitude of benefits that musical education brings to students. Ample research has demonstrated how musical education positively affects students' ability to succeed academically, assists in developing community and collaboration skills, and provides for method for creative expression.

Music is a great unifier, transcending age, culture, race, and even language. In the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "Music is the universal language of mankind." Incidentally, music helps children develop the skills to learn other languages, by stimulating the brain and strengthening memorization.

While practicing and performing together, students have to collaborate with their peers in order to harmonize. This collaboration and teamwork fosters deep friendships as students share in each other's learning journeys, overcome milestones, and form a network of mutual support. As students form this connection with music and their peers, they naturally feel more connected and engaged at school as a whole, and are more likely to succeed in other areas.

Musical education forces students to learn hand-eye coordination, multi-task, and stay focused. Improving ones musical skill does not come easily. Through continual practice over the course of years, students learn that keeping a positive mindset and persevering through times of struggle brings success. This work ethic is a great life-skill to carry over into other disciplines.

Like all the arts, music is an outlet for creativity. Students are invited to explore and create with fewer limits than other courses of study, and for many students, music class quickly becomes a time of stress relief and connection. Even students who struggle academically can succeed in the arts, lifting their self confidence and creating a sense of achievement.

Whether you or your child is serious about mastering an instrument or just wants to explore their interests, we encourage you to learn more about the benefits of musical education at Waterford High School.

The arts are highly valued at Waterford High School, as involvement in the arts has consistently been associated with gains in math, reading, verbal skills, critical thinking, and cognitive skills. Perhaps far more importantly, our arts programs are helping students become connected to their school, their peers, and the world around them. In music class, students from all backgrounds work together, celebrating each individual's unique identity and talents while encouraging them to collaborate together to produce a single composition.

Though all of our arts programs have been thriving over the last several years, our music classes in particular have experienced exponential growth under the direction of Anastasia Legatos. Anastasia joined our team as the music instructor in 2021, bringing band and choir classes back to the High School. Anastasia’s passion for music, patience, and dedication to her students is easily observed, and further proven by the program's explosive growth. In her first year with us, the choir class grew from 9 students to 21, and the band class grew from 18 students to 19, with an additional guitar course added with 32 students. Next year, our goal is to add a color guard and jazz band class, which will allow us to accommodate an additional 45 students across all the music classes. In addition to time spent learning in class, music students are able to showcase their progress at concerts twice annually, and the band marches for local parades and plays during the football games.