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.

The 2025 M100 Fundamentals Camp will be held on Monday, April 28 through Wednesday, April 30 after school from 5:00-7:30pm in the Belton HS Band Hall. Attendance is required for all 25-26 M100 members, including percussion and color guard. Be sure to wear athletic clothes and athletic shoes, and bring your own water jugs. We will begin learning the basic fundamentals for next marching season, in addition to learning the music for our upcoming marching production.

PARENTS: Belton Band Boosters will host an information meeting on Monday, April 28 at 7:00pm. We will talk about band fees, marching schedules, and what to expect as a band parent. If you have any questions about the M100, please contact Mr. Kwaku directly at kevin.kwaku@bisd.net.

This week, students will be given Permission Slips for parents to fill out and have their student return by Friday, May 2 by 4pm. Students will also write in their desired bus partner from their same grade level and gender so we can create a bus seating chart. We will hand out the trip itinerary to students once they turn in their permission slip.

Also, please review this swimsuit dress code before purchasing swimwear for our trip: https://tinyurl.com/springtripdresscode. We will also go over this in class directly with the students next week.

Lastly, we would like to have all parents who are going on the trip attend our Spring Trip Parent Meeting here in the BMS Band Hall on Monday, May 5 from 5:30-6:00pm. We will be going over parent details and expectations for the trip, and all parents are welcome to attend. Please email Mr. Pulley if you have any questions about our Spring Trip.

Students were recently given the materials and instructions needed for our End-of-Year Placement Auditions happening during class from April 22 to May 2. All current 6th & 7th grade band students are required to participate for a major grade. This audition serves as the individual assessment of each student's musical skills developed from this school year. Think of this as our individual STAAR test for Band.

Wind players will audition one-on-one privately with Mr. Pulley, while Percussion students will audition with Mr. Smith. Each audition should take no more than 5-10 minutes and students will receive both a score to determine placement and a grade for the gradebook. You can read more details on the attached document below:

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.

All Beginning Band students will have a group rehearsal after school from 4:00-5:00pm on Monday & Tuesday, April 28 & 29 in the Band Hall. A grade will be taken for both rehearsals.

Students are expected to "Be Punctual" and arrive seated with all materials and ready to rehearse at 4pm sharp or their grade will be affected. Students 1-5 minutes late will have their rehearsal grade reduced to an 85. Students who are late 5-15 minutes will have their grade reduced to a 70. Students arriving more than 15 minutes late will receive a 50.

Email: beltonmsband@gmail.com

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

Address: 1704 Sparta Road, Belton, TX, USA

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Facebook: facebook.com/beltonmsband

YouTube: youtube.com/beltonmsband

Instagram: instagram.com/beltonmsband