Hudson Hawk Band Updates

Hello everyone! This is a message from Mr. Yett, Mr. Mucino, and Mr. Slaughter, we are so excited to start the 2026-2027 school year and meet every student in the Hudson Band program! We hope you have had a wonderful summer and are ready to join us for an exciting year. We have been busy getting the band hall ready for you and are just about there.On the first day of school, students DO NOT need to bring their instruments! We will spend that day going over procedures and expectations, issuing lockers, and getting to know each other.

You will receive a Smore newsletter once a month for band. Please take the time to read through the WHOLE thing each month. This is the best way to stay informed and the answers to MANY of your questions can be found within the Smore. Sometimes we do make updates to the Smore throughout the month and add details about events. When this happens, we will let you know to review the Smore for those updates. Thanks in advance for taking the time to read everything and know what's going on! Please make sure you have an accurate email address in Skyward so you receive all the information.

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 7:45am. 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!

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!

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!

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 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.

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. This private lesson scholarship application is due Friday, August 21st. We will issue scholarships at that time to as many students as possible, based on financial need. 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.

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.

Students in the Advanced Bands will begin their weekly before/after school sectionals the week of August 24th. Sectionals are required and grades will be given during sectionals Each advanced band student will have a sectional every week. We will set the sectional schedule by the beginning of the 2nd week of school, after finding out which students are involved in certain school activities so we can avoid as many conflicts as possible. Check back here on August 17th to see the published sectional schedules for the fall semester.

August

• 5 Meet the Band Directors @ HMS (6-7pm)
• 20 Band Parent Meetings (Beginners @ 6:00pm, Advanced @ 7:15pm)

September

• 4 Practice-a-Thon Fundraiser Kick-off in ALL band classes
• 25 MS Band Night w/ Sachse HS @ HBJ Stadium (5-10pm)
• TBA 7th/8th Grade Football Game performance for ALL Advanced Bands @ Sachse HS (5-8pm)

October

• 2 Practice-a-Thon Fundraiser @ Hudson MS (6-10pm)
• 6 Beginner Woodwind Demonstrations @ HMS (during student band class period)
• 7 Beginner Brass & Percussion Demonstrations @ HMS (during student band class period)
• 27 Advanced Bands Fall Concert @ Sachse High School (6:30pm)
• TBA 7th/8th Grade Football Game performance for ALL Advanced Bands @ Sachse HS (5-8pm)

November

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

December

• 8 or 14 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 Advanced Bands Holiday Concert @ Sachse HS (6:00pm)
• 16 Beginner Band Holiday Concert @ Sachse HS (stay after school - perform @ 6:00pm)
• 17 Wind Symphony Holiday Elementary Tour @ Sewell, Lister, & Armstrong

On September 4th we will kick off our Practice-a-Thon fundraiser for ALL band students! This fundraiser is the biggest one we do all year long and the most fun for our students. All students will receive a PAT packet with materials explaining the fundraiser, scripts to use, business letters to share, and of course prize info! Parents will all receive an email on that day with a link to your student's personal fundraiser website to share with friends, family, social media, etc. The funds we raise will cover clinicians, music purchases, instrument repair/maintenance, copier maintenance, field trip discounts, and more! We hope that you will all participate and join us for our Practice-a-Thon party on October 2nd! Be on the lookout for more details about how you can help with the fundraiser party and donations we need to make the party a success.

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!

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