As summer draws to a close and we near our first day back, we wanted to thank all of our band parents for their patience during this transition period. We know it has not been easy, and we recognize that there are still quite a few hurdles to jump before all is said and done and we are in our new facility. We ask for your continued patience and that, should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. You will find links to our e-mail at the bottom of this newsletter. We wanted to provide you with some last-minute reminders for the new year, as well as any details we can provide that will hopefully help you understand how this situation is going to work.

Beginning Band Members:

Beginning Band members are students who have never been in band before. Most of these students are 6th graders, however, we will occasionally have 7th and 8th grade beginning band members.

Advanced Band Members:

Advanced Band Members are students who have been in band for at least one year. Advanced Band members are typically 7th and 8th graders, never 6th grade.

You will find the supply lists for the 2021-2022 school year below. There is a list for Advanced band members and Beginning band members. Please click on the links, and ensure your child has the necessary supplies before the start of the school year (if applicable).

EXCEPTIONS: If your child is a BEGINNING band member, and they HAVE NOT been fitted for an instrument, please refrain from buying any supplies except what was on the BMS school supply list (View Binder, pencils, highlighters, small mirror, and pencil pouch).

Note: The small mirror should fit in the pencil pouch.

Please do not send band supplies on day 1. We will send a text via Remind when we would like for the supplies to be there.

If you have a student in the 6th grade, they will attend JCES.

If you have a student in the 7th or 8th grade, they will attend Cele MS. Note that while we are being housed at Cele, Bohls will operate as its own school. The band classes will be housed in the portables.

What does this mean for my 7th grade beginner?

Unfortunately, we will not have beginner sections at Cele MS; however, we will provide them with as much help as they need to get started on their instrument. Private lessons will be a MUST for students in this situation.

While our counselors are painstakingly re-doing the master schedule to fit our new situation, we have a general idea of what our schedule will look like. As it stands, the directors will be at Jessica Carpenter Elementary School with our beginners from 1st period all the way through 5th period. Our Advanced Bands will be at Cele Middle School for 6th and 7th periods.

Each beginning band class has two to three instruments assigned. For example, our first period class will have all beginner flutes and tubas. Ms. Lopez will the teach flutes, and Mr. Wallace will teach the tubas.

Our two advanced band sections will consist of a non-varsity and a varsity band class. The placement tests we conducted this past Monday determined where your child will be placed.

Please expect for MANY schedules to change during the first two weeks of school.

What if my child did not attend the instrument fittings or the placement testing?

We will finish testing during the first week of school, and adjust schedules as needed.

Instruments that must be provided:

Flute

Clarinet

Alto Saxophone

Trumpet

Percussion (beginner)

Instruments that are provided by the school:

Oboe

Bassoon

Horn

Trombone

Euphonium

Tuba

Regarding the instruments provided by the school:

These instruments will be assigned once school has begun. Students will take home a contract and an envelope for their rental fee. Once that is returned, the instrument may be taken home to practice. Rental fee is $75.00 a year.

Note: Beginning Band students will not receive their instrument right away. We will spend the first two to three weeks of school on music theory, breathing, posture, rhythm counting, and parts of the instrument before assigning it.

While PFISD is developing their own text messaging application, it is not yet ready, and we will continue using the Remind application. So, If you are not in one of our Remind text messaging groups yet, please sign up using the code below to get updates and reminders.

TENTATIVE DATE: Thursday, August 19th at 7 p.m.

LOCATION: TBD

We will send more information regarding our Fall meeting on the first or second day of class.

We hope to have Music & Arts present to take any last-minute supply orders.