Hudson Hawk Band Updates

The band hall will be closed before school this week (week of October 6) and the week after Fall Break (week of October 20) in the mornings, except for students who have a scheduled sectional, rehearsal, or private lesson and people on this prize winner list. Unfortunately, we have been dealing with multiple instances of bullying, horseplay, and screaming during our open band hall times. We had talks in EVERY band class last week on Thursday, but the behavior continued on Friday morning. Therefore, students will not be able to come to the band hall to drop off their instruments until 8:40am. They will be released from the gym and cafeteria at that time to put up their band stuff. All students will need to go straight to the gym or cafeteria in the mornings for the next 2 weeks. We will reevaluate the week after Fall Break and may open the band hall back up if the overall behavior has improved. Thank you for your understanding and support as we work to see more calm, kindness, and rule-following in the band hall.

We hope you'll join us for our Beginner Demo Days this week! The woodwinds will show off their skills to family and friends during their band class on Tuesday, October 7 and the brass and percussion will do the same on Thursday, October 9. You'll want to arrive at least 10 minutes before your student's class starts so you can check in at the front office and get your visitor badge. We can't wait for you to see what we've been learning - you're going to be blown away!

Tuesday, October 7

Flutes - 8:50-9:37am

Clarinets - 1:43-2:29pm

Saxophones - 2:33-3:19pm

Oboes/Bassoons - 3:23-4:10pm

Thursday, October 9

Trumpets/Percussion - 8:50-9:37am

Euphoniums/Tubas - 1:43-2:29pm

Trombones - 2:33-3:19pm

French Horns - 3:23-4:10pm

The list of students who raised enough money to get to choose their prize from the Practice-a-Thon can be found here. There is a separate tab on the bottom where you can see what prizes are available, so you can have an idea of what you'd like to pick when your turn comes. They are separated into groups and will be able to choose their prize at 8:30am on the day they are listed. If they don't make it at 8:30am, they will get to pick their prize during their band class on that day. All other students will receive a prize from the fundraiser during class on Friday, October 10.

To everyone who shared your fundraiser page, collected cash/check donations, donated snacks/drinks/prizes, contacted businesses for donations, and chaperoned our Practice-a-Thon party, THANK YOU! We raised over $37000 for our program, which will cover all of our operating costs that aren't covered by band fees. It will also help tremendously with transportation costs to our festivals and field trips. It was a great fundraiser and a wonderful party! Thank you all again so much for your efforts!!!

The Advanced Bands will be performing at the Epic Music Festival at Epic Waters in Grand Prairie on Tuesday, December 9. The total cost of the trip is $55 and includes the performance fee, 4 hours at the water park, catered lunch, and bus transportation. The chaperone cost is $45. Trip contracts are due October 24 with at $10 deposit to reserve your spot on the trip. Final trip payments are due November 21. All fall band and instrument usage fees must be paid in full by December 5 to attend the trip.

The trip contract can be found here and specifies the behavior and performance requirements in order to attend the trip.

Parents who are interested in chaperoning the trip should sign up here! There are a maximum of 16 chaperone spots available and will be filled through this sign-up Genius form on a first-come, first-served basis.

Our Fall Practice Challenge starts on Sunday, October 12 and lasts for 9 weeks. Students who practice for 20 minutes on 50 out of the 63 days of the challenge will be invited to the Elfstavaganza party on Thursday, December 18th. Parents, please initial in each box when your student practices for at least 20 minutes. Don't forget the parent signature at the top and ALL papers are due by Tuesday, December 16th to score an invite to the party!

If your student has not returned their 4 required band handbook form, they will receive another copy of them this week and will need to return them before Fall Break. The 4 required forms are:

1. Handbook 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. You can also find the forms here, in case your student has misplaced their copy.

November

• 8 - GISD All-District Auditions for WS & HB @ Lakeview Centennial HS (time TBA)
• 15 - TMEA Region 3 All-Region Auditions for WS & HB @ Rockwall Heath HS (time TBA)

December

• 9 - Advanced Bands Epic Waters Festival
• 11 - Beginner Band after school rehearsal @ Hudson Band Hall (4:15-5:30pm)
• 12-13 - GISD All-District Band Clinic/Concert for qualifying WS & HB students @ Lakeview

Centennial HS (time TBA)

• 15 - Beginner Band Holiday Concert @ Sachse HS (stay after school - perform @ 6:00pm)
• 16 - Advanced Bands Holiday Concert @ Sachse HS (6:00pm)
• 17 - Wind Symphony Holiday Elementary Tour @ Sewell, Lister, & Armstrong

We will be taking pictures for the Music for All program book on Thursday, October 23. Students who are attending the trip will need to stay after school that day and we will be finished at approximately 6:00pm. Girls will wear black dresses (provided by the band) with black flat-soled dress shoes. Boys will wear black slacks, a solid black long-sleeve button-down shirt, black socks, black dress shoes, and a red tie. The tie is the only part of the uniform that will be supplied by the band. If you have trouble securing the solid black uniform for boys, please reach out to Mrs. Becker and let her know.

As a reminder, you should be making monthly payments toward the MFA trip in Presto until February. Students and chaperones who are attending the trip have been charged each month's payment in Presto. The payment schedule is as follows:

September 15

October 15

November 17

December 15

January 15

February 13

Thank you so much for staying on top of these payments!

Wind Symphony Parents - the Music for All Kick-off Recording is ready to be viewed. This video takes the place of the meeting that MFA had originally scheduled in August. This video actually features some of our current Wind Symphony students, but also explains what exactly the National Festival is, what makes it special, and answers a lot of questions you may have. Our MFA contract is currently getting its final approval from Dr. Wong, but will be sent out to all of you by the end of this week, before the first trip payment is due on September 15th. You'll have about 10 days to make your decision, sign a contract, and submit the first payment.

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. Please help us by reaching out to businesses in your life and sharing the flier below. 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!

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 instrument 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!

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!

As you are doing your back-to-school shopping, if you feel inclined to donate any items to the HMS Band, we do have an Amazon wishlist for our classroom. We are so grateful for any and all donations we receive, as well as just your support! Other items that we use frequently and would gladly accept any donations of are paper plates, bottled water (8oz bottles are wasted less than 16oz bottles), and reams of copy paper.

Students in the Advanced Bands began their biweekly before/after school sectionals the week of August 25th. 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.

There are tabs at the bottom for each band's sectional schedule.

Advanced Bands Fall 2025 Sectional Schedule

If you missed our parent meeting presentations on August 21, you can find them below.

Beginner Band Presentation
Advanced Bands Presentation
Wind Symphony Presentation
There are many links within the presentations. Please click through things and let us know if you have any questions.

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 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.

Starting the 2nd day of school, our procedures are as follows:

Morning Drop-off

The back door #11 (exterior band hall door) will open at 7:40am. 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 exterior band hall door, walk around to the front of the school, and enter near the bike racks to sit in the cafeteria. After 8:15am, students will be allowed to leave the band hall and go inside the building to either the cafeteria or gym to wait to be released to 1st period. 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-8:40am.

**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!

PLEASE READ OUR MONTHLY SMORES! Most of the answers to questions we receive regularly are already in the Smore. We take a lot of time to try and keep you informed as much as possible. Please do your part by reading ALL of the information.

With a band program our size, it is important to follow a chain of command. If you have a question or an issue, please start by contacting the teacher of your student's class:

Mrs. Becker - Wind Symphony (Varsity), Beginner Flute, Oboe, Bassoon, Clarinet, Saxophone

Mr. Clark - Honors Band (Non-Varsity), Beginner Trumpet, French Horn, Euphonium

Ms. Ball - Symphonic Band (Sub Non-Varsity), Beginner Trombone, Tuba

Mrs. Manaois - Advanced Band Percussion

Mr. Tucker - Beginner Percussion

If your child's teacher cannot help, they will help connect you with the person who can!

The best way to contact the band directors is through email. Please know that we team-teach our classes and each of us only has one 45-minute conference period each day. If you haven't received a response to your message within 48 hours, please message us again. We all strive to respond within 24 hours, but that isn't always realistic.

We have turned off notifications on Parent Square and the Band App in an effort to disconnect from work while we are not at school. Through the Band App, you will have many parents who can chime in and help answer your questions there. We have a lot of families who are on their 3rd and 4th child in our program and who are great at helping answer questions.

We are all setting boundaries to leave work at work (as much as possible), so we can be more present for our families at home. We will not be responding to emails on weekends/holidays. We spend many extra hours and days with your students, who we love, but our families must come first. Thank you so much for your understanding and for showing us grace as we put these boundaries in place.

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: ALL Band Parents & Students, 25-26 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. On Friday, August 15th, all new parents and students will receive a welcome email from Presto with details on how to log in. 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 watch the quick video tutorial below.

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! I purchased THIS LOCK for my own child to use for ease of use and time constraints at the beginning and end of class.

Heather Becker - Director

Chris Clark - Assistant Director

Rachel Ball - 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