Hudson Hawk Band Updates

Parents whose students are going on the Epic Waters trip (Symphonic Band, Honors Band, and Wind Symphony), we need 10 chaperones to make this trip go smoothly plus a generous parent volunteer who could pull our band trailer. If you would like to chaperone with us fill out this Signupgenius link.

The Beginner Band will have their first concert on Wednesday, December 16th at Sachse HS. They will have a required rehearsal on Thursday, December 10th in preparation for the concert. This information sheet details the uniform requirements for the concert, as well as information about the rehearsal, and concert night expectations.

We can't wait for you to hear how much they've grown this year so far - you are going to be blown away!

For our Advanced Bands Winter Concert on December 15th & 16th, students will wear concert black. Girls will be fitted for a black dress that is provided by the band if wanted, but will need to have their own close-toed, flat-soled solid black dress shoes (ballet flats are a perfect choice). Boys will need to purchase their own solid black dress pants, solid black long-sleeved button-down dress shirt, solid black dress shoes and tall black socks. Girls who do not want to wear a black dress must follow the same guidelines

If you have any leftover Halloween candy that you don't want sitting around at your house, we'd be happy to take any donations for the band! We use candy to incentivize students and to reward them for helping, participating, and being kind. We can always use more for our stash and would love to help you not be tempted by that delicious candy! 😋

The BEST investment you can make for your student's musical education is with PRIVATE LESSONS! We have the most wonderful group of private teachers around who are dedicated to providing quality one-on-one instruction to our students. Most of our teachers have been working with our students already this summer at our camps and have already told me how much they are enjoying getting to know your students. To sign your student up for private lessons, fill out this enrollment form and get it back to us ASAP. The teachers will schedule students as soon as they receive their enrollment form, so be first to get the most desired lesson time! Private lessons are $25 each week, payable directly to the private teacher. If finances are the only thing keeping your student out of lessons, we do have limited scholarship money available to help. The scholarship application due date has passed but if you are still interested please contact Mr. Yett. If you would like to contact the private teacher for your student's instrument, you can find all of our teachers' contact information on this page.

There are many payment deadlines coming up this month that we wanted to remind you of. We know talking about band fees is never anyone's favorite thing to do, but it is necessary for us to be able to provide your students with all of the opportunities and activities we have planned for them this year. Here are the dates to be aware of:

November 6th - 3rd fall band fee payment for those who opted to make monthly band fee payments

December 4th - deadline for EVERYONE'S fall band fees to be paid in full - this includes instrument usage fees for students using a school-owned instrument as well

November

• 14 TMEA Region 3 All-Region Auditions for WS & HB @ Rockwall HS (time TBA)

December

• 8 Advanced Bands Epic Waters Festival
• 10 Beginner Band after school rehearsal @ Hudson Band Hall (4:15-5:30pm)
• 11-12 GISD All-District Band Clinic/Concert for qualifying WS & HB students @ Lakeview

Centennial HS (time TBA)

• 15 Symphonic/Honors/Jazz Bands Holiday Concert @ Sachse HS (6:30pm)
• 16 Beginner Band/Wind Symphony Holiday Concert @ Sachse HS (stay after school - perform @ 6:30pm)
• 17 Wind Symphony Holiday Elementary Tour @ Sewell, Lister, & Armstrong

It’s never too early to get a jump-start on reaching out to corporate band sponsors! This year we have multiple levels of band sponsorships so potential donors can decide how they would like to support our band. Corporate sponsors in any of the five sponsorship levels will have their business logo included on our band website and in concert programs the entire school year. Feel free to print this flyer about the Hudson Band and the sponsorship levels and reach out to businesses in your life. (The flier is being updated and will be added soon!) Have your student ask a band director for copies of the flier too! Feel free to contact us at fundraising@hudsonband.org if you have any questions because we're excited about fundraising and the opportunities we want to provide our students this year!

Much like the beginner band year, as students continue with band there are new/different/extra supplies that will be needed. Many of these are the same supplies that we requested for this past year, so if your student will be an 8th grader, they likely already have these supplies. Please make sure your student has these supplies when we start school. The supplies on the list have been linked to Amazon to try and make it super easy for you - just add to cart and check out!

You can find all of the Beginner Band supply lists for each instrument on our band website. They're found on the handouts page, where there's also a list of our recommended music stores that can help you rent instruments or purchase necessary supplies. Don't wait to get your supplies ordered - it takes a few days for the stores to fill the orders and you don't want your student to miss out on the first sounds of the year with their class!

Students in the Advanced Bands began their weekly before/after school sectionals the week of August 24th. Sectionals are required and grades will be given during sectionals. Please make arrangements to schedule appointments on the off days or weeks so your student does not miss these important rehearsals. Please see the link below for the sectional schedule for each band.

Morning Drop-off

The back door #11 (exterior band hall door) will open at 7:45am. Students may come in and drop off their instrument in their band locker from 7:45-8:15am. Students will be required to exit the band hall to sit in the cafeteria after dropping off their instrument. The only students allowed to stay in the band hall are band aides, students who have a morning sectional that day, or students who have a private lesson. On Monday mornings ONLY, the band hall will be open to all students for practice from 7:45am-8:40.

**Students who are caught loitering outside of the band hall (exterior or interior door), will receive a warning the first time, a parent contact the 2nd time, a detention the 3rd time, and an office referral the 4th time. Student's placement in the band program will be in jeopardy if they reach a 4th time.**

Afternoon Pick-up

Band students are allowed and encouraged to come down to the band hall after school to pick up their instrument/binder and take them home to practice. Students will receive a sticker to place on the back of their student ID to identify them as band students. Parents can pick up band students at the back of the school (where the traffic is typically better anyway) outside of door #11. YOU MUST STOP IN THE LEFT LANE, WAIT FOR YOUR STUDENT TO LOAD THE CAR, AND ONLY USE THE RIGHT LANE AS A DRIVE THROUGH. Parents who repeatedly use the right lane to stop and pick up their student will not be allowed to continue using the back exit! Please be patient and cautious during drop-off and pick-up. STUDENT SAFETY IS OUR TOP PRIORITY!

The BAND app is the quickest way for us to communicate with you and we use it often. You can sign up for the BAND app by clicking on the link for the group you wish to join: 26-27 Beginner Band, Symphonic Band, Honors Band, Wind Symphony, Jazz Band, Parents ONLY. We will send reminders about upcoming concerts, when practice records are due, sectionals, etc. Please sign up for this wonderful service!

This year we will be using a fine arts management program called Presto (the same program we used last year for our returning families). This program allows us to keep track of band finances, inventory, music library, uniforms, communicate with members, and much more.

All new parents and students will receive an email from Presto to the email logged on skyward with details on how to log in shortly after school starts. You will be able to see upcoming events, outstanding balances, make online payments, keep track of your student's school-owned uniforms and inventory, etc. This system works very well for our unique program needs and we hope you'll take the time to explore the program and become familiar with navigating it.

All band students will be issued a band locker on the first day of school. Band lockers are for storing band instruments and band binders during the school day. We expect all students to take home both their binder and their instrument EVERY DAY because consistent practice is the best way to improve on an instrument. We do have combination locks available to students who request one, but we do not initially issue locks with the lockers. We HIGHLY RECOMMEND students to keep their locker locked all the time. Students are welcome to bring their own locks, however, they are REQUIRED to either share the combination with the band directors or give us a copy of the key. We do our very best to keep things safe, but the best way you can help yourself is to lock your locker and LABEL ALL OF YOUR BAND SUPPLIES!

All band students will receive a packet with 4 required band handbook forms that need to be returned by August 28th. The 4 required forms are:

1. Handbook & Calendar Acknowledgement Form

2. Hudson Band Fees Form

3. Video, Image, and Audio Release Form

4. Field Trip Release Form

There is a link to the band handbook at the bottom of this Smore. We will also go over all of this in detail (including the required fees) at our band parent meetings on August 20th. You can find the forms here, but they will also be given to your student on Monday, August 10th in physical form.

Ryan Yett - Director

Macedinio Mucino - Assistant Director

Justin Slaughter - Assistant Director

Sue Manaois - Percussion Director

Garrett Tucker - Sachse Cluster Percussion Director

Website: www.hudsonband.org

Phone: 972-675-3070 ext. 52218

Facebook: facebook.com/hudsonmsband

Instagram: instagram.com/hudsonhawkband