Tyler High School to Offer Mariachi Class

The fine arts elective begins in the 2027-28 school year, giving Caldwell Arts Academy mariachi students a path to continue in high school.

Updated on Nov. 7, 2026 in Secondary Education

Warm-lit photograph of a guitarrón and violin resting on a chair beside an open window in a bare classroom. — Tyler High School will offer a mariachi class as a fine arts elective beginning in the 2027-28 school year, giving Caldwell Arts Academy students a path to continue. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Tyler High School will offer a mariachi class during the 2027-28 school year as a fine arts elective. Students can select the class when meeting with counselors to plan schedules.

Why it matters

The class gives middle school mariachi students a chance to continue the music in high school. For Tyler residents, it expands fine arts options available within the local public school system.

Caldwell Arts Academy's mariachi program has existed for about seven years, and instructor John Floyd has taught the class for three years. The source does not state expected enrollment numbers for the new high school course.

The players

Tyler High School

A public high school in Tyler, Texas, operated by the Tyler Independent School District.

Caldwell Arts Academy

A middle school in Tyler whose mariachi program has existed for about seven years and feeds students into the new high school course.

The details

Students select the mariachi class as their fine arts elective when meeting with counselors to plan schedules. Students perform mariachi music at community events, including a Día de los Muertos festival in downtown Tyler and a school-wide Hispanic Heritage Month performance.

Hispanic Heritage Month (September-October 2026): Caldwell students held a school-wide mariachi performance with food trucks.
2027-28 school year: Tyler High School mariachi class begins.

Season Trajectory

The new course extends Tyler High School's fine arts elective offerings into a culturally specific music tradition that grew out of Caldwell Arts Academy's middle school program. It shows how middle school arts pipelines can feed directly into high school course catalogs in Texas districts.

Tyler families with middle schoolers in Caldwell's mariachi program can plan to continue the class in high school beginning in 2027-28. Students who want the course should raise it with counselors when planning schedules.

The takeaway

Students planning high school schedules should ask counselors about fine arts electives early, since choices like mariachi class must be selected during scheduling meetings. Families can use middle school programs as a guide to what high school options may follow.