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.

This week, all students will receive their personalized eligibility statement for our upcoming spring trip to Typhoon Texas on Saturday, May 10 in Pflugerville (Austin). Students must meet certain requirements as outlined in our Band Handbook distributed at the beginning of the school year.

Please read through this information carefully and detach, fill out, and return the last page of the packet along with any required payment. A hard deadline of Friday, April 11 at 4pm has been established for us to have time to order tickets and make final preparations. No forms will be accepted after this date so please plan accordingly.

A copy of the form has been provided below for your convenience. We also need parent chaperones to help at this event! We will have a spring trip parent meeting on Monday, May 5 from 5:30-6:00pm in the Band Hall to go over all trip details for parents attending the trip.

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.

Our Advanced Solo Contest for Symphonic Band students will be at BMS on Saturday, April 12 from 9:00am-1:00pm to come-and-go as needed. Students will need to wear their formal uniform and arrive 10 minutes before their schedule performance time in order to warm-up and get ready for their performance.

Sign-up times for this event are now open by clicking on the appropriate link below:

• Winds (woodwinds and brass): https://bit.ly/advancedsolo
• Percussion (mallets and drums): https://bit.ly/percussionsolocontest

Due to TEA's No Pass, No Play students must be academically eligible to perform at this contest from the 3rd Nine Weeks Report Card that will be finalized this week. These students will be told privately so they can still prepare and perform for a director before Saturday's contest. Please message Mr. Pulley if you have any questions about this performance.

On Tuesday, March 4 the Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble performed at the UIL Concert & Sightreading Evaluation at Lake Belton HS. Both ensembles earned First Division Superior ratings in both categories and were awarded the Sweepstakes trophy! This is the 3rd Sweepstakes award for the Symphonic Band and the 4th Sweepstakes for the Wind Ensemble since BMS re-opened in 2020.

Here are some comments from the judges of both groups:

• "There is good attention to details!"
• "Excellent teaching and learning are evident in this ensemble."
• "Fantastic work by all players and teachers!"

But don't just take their word for it, take a listen for yourself with these professional recordings by clicking here. And the videos from these performances can be found by click here.

Thank you for your help and support throughout the school year, and congratulations to our superior musicians!

Our Advanced Solo Contest for Wind Ensemble students will be at BMS on Saturday, April 12 from 9:00am-1:00pm to come-and-go as needed. Students will need to wear their formal uniform and arrive 10 minutes before their schedule performance time in order to warm-up and get ready for their performance.

Sign-up times for this event are now open by clicking on the appropriate link below:

• Winds (woodwinds and brass): https://bit.ly/advancedsolo
• Percussion (mallets and drums): https://bit.ly/percussionsolocontest

Due to TEA's No Pass, No Play students must be academically eligible to perform at this contest from the 3rd Nine Weeks Report Card that will be finalized this week. These students will be told privately so they can still prepare and perform for a director before Saturday's contest. Please message Mr. Pulley if you have any questions about this performance.

On Tuesday, March 4 the Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble performed at the UIL Concert & Sightreading Evaluation at Lake Belton HS. Both ensembles earned First Division Superior ratings in both categories and were awarded the Sweepstakes trophy! This is the 3rd Sweepstakes award for the Symphonic Band and the 4th Sweepstakes for the Wind Ensemble since BMS re-opened in 2020.

Here are some comments from the judges of both groups:

• "There is good attention to details!"
• "Excellent teaching and learning are evident in this ensemble."
• "Fantastic work by all players and teachers!"

But don't just take their word for it, take a listen for yourself with these professional recordings by clicking here. And the videos from these performances can be found by click here.

Thank you for your help and support throughout the school year, and congratulations to our superior musicians!

Email: beltonmsband@gmail.com

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

Address: 1704 Sparta Road, Belton, TX, USA

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