General information that applies to all students and parents can be found towards the top of every newsletter, while information specific to your child's ensemble can be found in that particular section by scrolling down. Feel free to contact a director if you have any questions and our contact information is at the bottom of this newsletter.

Our Spring Concert & Awards Ceremony is this Tuesday, May 6 at the Belton HS PAC. The Band Hall will close at 4:30pm that day and all students are responsible for transporting their instrument/stick bag and music binder to the PAC. Cases should stay in parent vehicles, and all students will wear their formal uniform to this major grade performance.

All students will report to the PAC, not the Band Hall since all groups will warm up on stage before their performance. We strongly encourage all students to stay for the duration of the concert to support their fellow students and to recognize their accomplishments!

We need parent chaperones for this event! Rest assured you will still get to see your child perform, but we currently have only 2 parents signed up in CutTime to help monitor students in the PAC audience. PLEASE SIGN UP IN CUTTIME IF YOU CAN HELP!

The Advanced Percussion Ensemble (from Symphonic Band & Wind Ensemble) need to arrive by 5:20pm, Beginners need to arrive by 5:45pm, Symphonic Band needs to arrive by 6:30pm, and Wind Ensemble needs to arrive by 7:00pm. Please review the below itinerary for all of the detailed information for Tuesday evening and please let a director know if you have any questions.

Students should be dropped off in the staffing parking lot by the Cafeteria by 8:45am and please do not park in the drop off loop since we will load buses there. Students should bring a bag for wet items, clean & dry clothes, swimsuit with appropriate coverage (click here to see dress code), sun screen, towel, sunglasses, etc. Please review the itinerary below for more details.

All bags will be searched prior to entering the park and this will take awhile once we arrive. It would help if students bring a bag that has as few zippers and pockets as possible to make this go quicker. No outside food or drink is allowed. Lunch will be served around 11:30am-2:30pm by school.

Typhoon Texas is a cashless facility, which means students will have to put money on a wristband in order to purchase things. This money is NON-REFUNDABLE. Students should put small amounts at a time ($20) and then add more as needed. If they put a large amount of money on the wristband and do not use it all by the end of the day, they will not get back what is left on the account. They do accept cards and phone payments.

If you are picking up your child directly from the park, or they will be riding home with someone else instead of the bus, you must complete and return this Parent Permission Form before we leave Saturday morning. Feel free to read the park's FAQ page here: typhoontexas.com/austin/faq.

In the Belton MS Band, we form a partnership between teacher and student where both share responsibility in their musical development. Our team of teachers include middle school directors, private lesson instructors, high school directors, and even hired clinicians, masterclass teachers, and adjudicators. We also strive to communicate and produce strong partnerships with parents since their support is vital in their student's growth.

To that end, we as the teaching team provide Introduction, Comprehension, and Demonstration to students for their instruction. However, each student has a responsibility as well to facilitate Repetition in the form of practicing daily for at least 25 minutes, 5 days per week.

This means that instruments go home everyday to practice the concepts, patterns, and music that we go over daily in class. This leads to student Mastery of their music and ultimately of their instrument. Students have homework everyday in Band as they practice their instrument in preparation for performances and to continue their musical growth. Reach out to a director if you would like more information on how to better help and support the musical growth of your student.

If your student has their own personal device (such as a cell phone or tablet), we highly recommend they download the Tonal Energy app (TE Tuner) found at this link: https://www.tonalenergy.com/te-mobile.

This app costs between $4-5 and does not require a subscription or wi-fi (or network) to be used. This is the same app many musicians use since it works both as a tuner and a metronome, and is highly beneficial for all our students when they practice. Reach out to a director if you have any questions or if your student needs help getting it set up.

If they don't have their own personal device, there are free websites listed in the Band Schoology Group your student can access under "Free Online Practice Guides" that include metronomes and tuners.

We want to interact with you on social media, so be sure to Like, Follow, and Subscribe on all of the following platforms you use:

• YouTube Channel
• Parent Square Group
• Facebook Page
• Instagram Account
• Band Website
• Google Photos Album
• SoundCloud Channel
• Smore Newsletters

Click on this link to sign up to become a district volunteer and complete the background check. Even if you have done this before, this process must be repeated every school year: Parent Chaperone Sign-Up. Please sign up for volunteer opportunities on your CutTime MagicLink.

Click here to see the Calendar page of our website to find all of the current events, including special rehearsals, contests, and performances for the whole school year. We provide this so you can plan your family's activities. Remember, performances are a required part of our curriculum, so please contact a director ASAP for any conflicts. Be sure to view the List of Band Events that can be found clicking on the link.

Email: beltonmsband@gmail.com

Website: beltonmsband.org
Call/Text: 254-262-3050

Address: 1704 Sparta Road, Belton, TX, USA

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Facebook: facebook.com/beltonmsband

YouTube: youtube.com/beltonmsband

Instagram: instagram.com/beltonmsband