Welcome to the 26-27 School Year in the Monarch Band!

Dear Students and Parents,

I hope you had a nice summer, and welcome back! We are so excited for the potential of the Monarch Bands this year and we can’t wait to get started. I wanted to send a message with a few pieces of information regarding the start of school.

First Day of School, August 13th

Students DO NOT need to bring their instruments on the first day of school. On the first day we will cover the Band Handbook which includes all of the details, schedules, expectations, guidelines and policies necessary for your student to be successful in band. We will also begin setting up any students who still need to rent an instrument from Monarch.

Second Day of School, August 14th

Students DO need to bring their instruments as we will begin playing in class! It is the expectation that you bring ALL materials to class every single day that you have band.

This includes:

• Your instrument

• Your music and fundamentals book (in either a music folder or music binder).

  • Every student will be given a fundamentals book (Title: Foundations of Superior Performance). If you already have one, bring it every day. If you don’t have one, you will be given one. If you lose your copy, you are expected to replace it at your own expense.

  • Most music will be copies that you can keep, but in Advanced Ensembles (Jazz 1 and Wind Ensemble), expect to have ORIGINAL copies of music that need to be taken care of and returned after we have finished performing that music.

• A pencil - all students need a pencil every day of band. Get a pack and keep them with your music stuff. “I don’t have a pencil because I don’t need it in my other classes” is not an acceptable excuse!

• Your own mouthpiece, reeds, and any other equipment you need to play your instrument successfully (cork grease, tuning slide grease, valve oil, etc.). We will cover the necessary equipment on day one.

Let’s have a great year of making music!

Mr. Vandermeer