Perhaps one of the most overlooked bridges in music education is the one that moves students from elementary to high school music education: the middle level. Whether beginning ensembles, ongoing general music, or new explorations, music education for young adolescents (ages 10-15) in any country has the potential to interest students in and connect them to multiple possible musical futures. Although middle level scholarship is not universal internationally, these scholars argue that all disciplines should strive to provide young adolescents with developmentally and culturally responsive learning (Bishop & Harrison, 2021). However, current middle level research (e.g., Brinegar et al., 2024) focuses little attention on arts-specific implementation of these principles. Researchers have found that music courses are some of the most frequently offered middle level electives in U.S. schools (McEwin & Greene, 2011) yet middle level music teachers are typically unaware of the principles that guide middle level education (Author, 2016; Author & Colleague, 2023). These contrasts raise many questions about these bridge music education programs for young adolescents. Building on previous research in music education (Abril & Gault, 2006; 2008), the purpose of this study is to investigate the principal’s perspective on whether middle level students should have music learning opportunities aligned with National Core Arts Standards and the principles of middle level philosophy.In the U.S., two national designations recognize middle level schools (those for students aged approx. 10-15) for their excellence: The National Forum’s “Schools to Watch” and the Association for Middle Level Education’s “Schools of Distinction.” Currently, there are 809 schools that have received one or both designations and serve as the population of interest. Each principal received an online survey in September 2025 designed to gather demographic information about the school’s music teachers and courses along with two Likert-type scales seeking the principal’s perspective on music learning. The first scale includes 11 items, aligned with the 11 anchor standards in the U.S. National Core Arts Standards. The second scale is designed to align with a proposed set of six characteristics (Author, 2025) for middle level arts learning and data collection from this survey study will be used to test this scale’s viability for future use. Data collection is currently ongoing but will be complete in time to share complete analysis at the ISME conference, providing the international audience with new information about this important bridge period in music education.