San Felipe Memorial Middle School Band

Great Concert...Great Year!

2007-05-17T22:53:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful concert on Tuesday night. Many parents came up to us telling us how wonderful the band sounded. We have posted mp3 files of both the band concert, and the Bluebonnet Classic Festival performance. We want to thank the parents for your incredible support throughout the year.

On a personal note, Mr. Wagner will be working this summer on getting together a Del Rio Middle School Band site similar to this one. Updated information will be posted on this site, as well as on the official SFMMS Band page on the school district's servers. I will not be sending out emails in the same way next year. I will have a sign-up form similar to the one on this page. All news posts to the blog will be emailed out that way. This saves time and allows me to better serve the students. Simply fill your email address into the form on the page, click Submit, and then reply to the verification email that is sent to you. This will be the last of these updates that I send out the same way. If you are interested in getting further updates on the SFMMS Band, including updates on when the DRMS Band website becomes available, please subscribe using this form.

Time Changes

2007-05-11T06:52:00.000-05:00

We have a couple of important time changes to tell you about for the next few days with the SFMMS Band.

Solo Contest
The solo contest that is scheduled for tomorrow will begin at 8:00 instead of 9:00. This will accomodate those students who need to be in and out early. This will also allow everyone to be finished earlier. Students do not have to stay the whole time, and the earlier you get there, the earlier you will find out your ratings and get out of there!

Spring Concert
Because of the heavy rains this week, the Del Rio High School jazz concert has been rescheduled to this Tuesday May 15th. This is the same day as our concert. We have decided to work this conflict out and will begin the 6th Grade concert at 6:30, and then we encourage everyone to go to the Paul Poag Theater for the jazz concert at 7:30. Students should be in the gym before 5:00 so we can begin rehearsing then.

Other Important Dates

Monday May 14th will be the SFMMS choir and strings concert in the SFMMS gym
Thursday May 17th will be the DRMS choir concert at the Paul Poag Theater
Tuesday May 22nd will be the DRMS band concert in the Del Rio Middle School Cafeteria

Bluebonnet Classic Results!

2007-05-06T14:25:00.000-05:00

On May 5th, 2007, the San Felipe Memorial Middle School 6th Grade Beginning Band made history as the first 6th grade band from Del Rio to ever compete in a band contest. The band played Infinity March by James Curnow, Galactic Episode by John O'Reilly and Mark Williams, and Atlantis by Anne McGinty as a performance in the Bluebonnet Classic Music Festival at HF Stevens High School in San Antonio. The band was conducted by Joel Wagner and Daniel White. The band earned three First Division Superior ratings with an average score of over 285.1 out of 300. This was the highest score from any beginning band or choir in the two day competition. This netted both a First Division trophy as well as an Outstanding Performance trophy. Each of the three judges also made it a point to personally congratulate the band directors for the band's outstanding performance.

After the competition, the band members spent the remainder of the day at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and traveled back home to Del Rio in style on charter buses. Upon arrival to the recently renovated San Felipe Memorial Middle School campus at approximately 1:00am, the students were greeted by numerous parents who were all too glad to cheer, applaud, and honk their horns in celebration of the momentous occasion. Celebration once again erupted as Mr. Wagner victoriously carried the two trophies into the Band Hall.

The band's final performance, which will include all three competition pieces, will be held in the San Felipe Memorial Middle School gymnasium at 7:00pm on Tuesday May 15th. Please come support these hard-working students. Admission is free.

Related links:
mp3 downloads of the band's performance

Elementary Tour Recap

2007-04-29T20:07:00.000-05:00

What an excellent job our band students did as we visited all 8 of the elementary campuses in Del Rio this past week! We heard so many compliments from parents, principals, and teachers. The bus drivers were also appreciative of their behavior on the buses. The band students truly represented San Felipe Memorial Middle School very well this week. You have much to be proud of!

As a result of the tremendous work that has been done, we are going to make some changes to this week's rehearsal schedule. Instead of going every day, we will have our regularly scheduled rehearsals on Monday and Tuesday from 3:30 to 5:00. We will not have any formal rehearsals on Wednesday or Thursday, although students are encouraged to come in and practice before and after school all week long. We will have a brief run-through on Friday from 3:30 to 4:15.

Then we get on the buses at 6:45 Saturday morning to travel to San Antonio. We have filled up the spots we had available to ride the bus. Thank you so much to all of the parents who have responded. The fact that we had to turn away some parents means that our students should stay safe all day long! We have an All Star Band travel permission form that will be sent home on Monday. If your child is going to be going on the field trip and be gone Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, then please be sure to either send that to school with them on Tuesday, or else make arrangements to bring it up to the school later in the week. Without this travel permission form, students will not be allowed to travel out of town with us.

We also have a solo & ensemble contest coming up on May 12th. We will spend the classes during the week of May 7th - 11th working on those. Students may also come before and after school every day that week for extra help or to work in groups.

Thank you so much for allowing us to work with your children! They definitely make both Mr. Wagner and Mr. White proud!

This Week And Next Week

2007-04-23T07:32:00.000-05:00

This week, we have after school rehearsals for the SFMMS All Star Band! Tuesday’s rehearsal will be from 3:30 to 5:30. Wednesday’s rehearsal will again be from 3:30 until 5:00. We will be going on our elementary tour on Thursday and Friday.

On Thursday, we are scheduled to perform at Garfield, North Heights, Ruben Chavira, and Dr. Fermin Calderon. On Friday, we are scheduled at Dr. Lonnie Green, Buena Vista, East Side, and Lamar. We will have lunch at Mr. Gatti’s on both days. We will leave aftter school has begun and return around the normal time of the final bell. If you are interested in joining us for one or both days, please let us know!

Next week, we have after school rehearsals scheduled Monday through Friday from 3:30 to 5:00. GT students will be going on a field trip for some of those days and those absences will be excused. More info should be coming home and will also be posted here again in the next few days.

We already have more than enough parents who have expressed a desire to go with us. Thank you so much for your interest! Unfortunately, we cannot take everyone with us. If you are going with us, you should have already received a note letting you know. If you haven't yet gotten one, ask your child to find out why not! Again, thank you so much for everything that you do for your child's education.

All Star Band Info

2007-04-11T21:34:00.000-05:00

Thank you so much for everything that you do to allow your children to be a part of our lives! We want to remind you about the Del Rio Solo & Ensemble Contest coming up on Saturday May 12th for all eligible students. We also want to remind you about the Band Spring Concert on Thursday May 17th. Both of these events will take place at Del Rio Middle School. We are also planning on having an end of year party after school on Friday May 18th. If you are interested in helping us organize this, please let us know.

Everything from here on only applies to the students who are involved in the All Star Band and will be traveling on the elementary tour and Fiesta Texas trips.

With the conclusion of the fifth six weeks grading period, we have nearly finalized the All Star Band students who will be performing on our elementary tour and for the Bluebonnet Classic Band Festival in San Antonio on May 5th.

We have four more rehearsals between now and the elementary tour. These are scheduled for Tuesday April 17th, Monday April 23rd, Tuesday April 2th, and Wednesday April 25th. The rehearsals will be in the band hall, and will begin after school at 3:30 and end at 5:00. We will have Mr. Rios from Del Rio High School working with us on April 24th and the rehearsal will end at 5:30. Pizza will follow and all All Star Band students are welcome to stay until 6:15pm.

The following week, we will have rehearsals every day until 5:00. These rehearsals will hep us finalize the concert program before we travel to San Antonio. We are aware that there is a field trip to NASA that week, but there will be no conflict with our schedule. We believe that we still have room available for a few more parents to travel with us to San Antonio. The only cost to travel with the band is your time and assistance that day. We will provide a free band t-shirt and Fiesta Texas ticket to any parents who will be traveling with us. We are sending home confirmations this week for those parents who have expressed interest in traveling with us. Nobody has heard anything back from us on it yet since we were waiting until grades were finalized before confirming anything.

Finalized schedules for the elementary tour and Fiesta Texas trips should be sent out next week with students. They will be posted to the band website, calendar, and blog as soon as we have them ready.

Scheduling Update

2007-03-24T14:45:00.000-05:00

April and May are quickly approaching and with them come numerous performances for the SFMMS Band. Mr. Wagner, Mr. White, and the students have been working hard learning music that we will play for our elementary tour on April 26th and 27th. In order to go on the tour, students must have qualified to be a member of the All Star Band and attend at least four of the six rehearsals listed on the paper that they received in class on Friday.

We also have our competition in San Antonio scheduled for Saturday May 5th. All students attending the elementary tour may go on this trip if they attend four or five after-school rehearsals during the week following the tour from April 30th through May 4th. The total cost for the trip is $100, which includes meals, charter bus, contest fees, and Fiesta Texas admission.

Final payments for these accounts should be turned in by April 17th. It's easy to remember because this is both TAKS day for the students and tax day for the adults. We get two extra days this year!

We also have our Solo & Ensemble contest scheduled on Saturday May 12th. It will be held in the morning at Del Rio Middle School. The solo performance will be part of the final exam grade in band. Students who do not attend the contest will be expected to perform their solo for the class on May 18th.

Also, mark May 17th on your calendars, as this will be our final band concert at Del Rio Middle School. All students are expected to perform at the concert, regardless of academic eligibility. This concert will be another part of the final exam grade.

As always, the calendar on the SFMMS Band Website includes all of these events.

Band Update

2007-03-02T11:20:00.001-06:00

Well, we are definitely still alive here at San Felipe Memorial Middle School. We have had a lot of hard work so far this semester and are excited about some of the things that we have planned for the remainder of the school year.

Two weeks ago, Mr. White and Mr. Wagner both went to the Texas Music Educators Association convention in San Antonio. While we were there, we picked up a copy of a book entitled, “How to Make First Chair” that thoroughly addresses practice issues and gives extremely helpful advice on how to successfully learn to play any instrument better. We were so impacted by the book, that we are implementing many of the concepts discussed in the book into our classes. “How To Make First Chair” is required reading material for many exemplary band programs throughout the state. It is easy to read, and even has tests available for students to earn AR points for their reading classes. We are encouraging all of our students to order the book. The list price for the book is $16.95 each, but if we are able to get 30 students who are interested in purchasing it, the cost can be as low as $12.95 each.

We are quickly approaching spring break. This means that the counselors from Del Rio Middle School will soon be coming to talk to the students about seventh grade. We encourage every student in band to continue in band into seventh grade and experience some more of the fun experiences that band brings. As they get to seventh grade, there are a lot more performances and competitions that are available. We have spoken with each of the students individually and tried to answer some of the questions that they may have about seventh grade electives. If you have any questions, then please do not hesitate to ask us and we will answer the ones we do know and do our best to find an answer for those questions we are unsure about.

Spring Break also brings practice incentives. The students will get Spring Break Practice Packets next week. Be looking for those.

Another item we want to bring to your attention is that the Glenn Miller Orchestra will be performing a big band concert at the Paul Poag Theater on Thursday March 8^th beginning at 8:00pm. This is a great opportunity for you and your child to go hear great musicians playing woodwind and brass instruments.

Preparation is under way for our All Star Band trip to San Antonio on May 5^th. We still have room for a few more parents to go with us. In order to compete with us, students must have earned 100 All Star points and have their balance paid in full by Tuesday April 17^th. More information will continue to come as we get closer to the departure.

Again, thanks for everything that you do to support the students of the SFMMS Band. We could not do what we do without the ongoing support of parents.

Fundraising Update

2007-01-24T21:37:00.000-06:00

The SFMMS Band and choir have done phenomenally well with the discount cards. We are in the process of wrapping the project up and it appears that we are going to end up selling right around 1,000 cards after everything is settled. Great work!

We also want to update you with on a few dates that are upcoming this semester. First of all, because of the weather-related school cancellations last week, we will not have Presidents Day off on February 19th. We will, however still have Good Friday off on April 6th. The last day of the school year will now be Monday May 28th.

We have our All Star Band trip to Fiesta Texas planned for May 5th. We are still developing an itinerary for the Elementary Tour, but that will be in late April or early May. We are doing our very best to ensure that there are no conflicts with the GT trip to Houston. Those students who wish to participate in these trips must be sure that they have earned 100 All Star points. Additionally, no students who fails a class on the fourth or fifth six weeks report cards will be allowed to go. Further All Star points may be earned with scale pass-offs between now and Spring Break. Those scale sheets are being passed out this week.

We have already heard from a handful of parents who would like to go to San Antonio with us, but if you are interested in joing us, we still have room for more parents!

Happy (And Busy) New Year

2007-01-10T21:18:00.000-06:00

Welcome back! We hope all of you had a blessed Christmas season and want to wish everyone a Happy New Year. School is back in session and we have a lot of stuff to tell you about.

I'm sorry about the late notice, but the first thing we want to mention is our field trip on Friday. We will be going to the Paul Poag Theater to see a concert performance. The students will all go to their first period class, be dismissed shortly after that, load the buses around 8:30, and be back to school around 11:30 in time for lunch and the remainder of the school day. In order to travel with us, every student must have the Travel Permission Form returned to the band directors. Extra copies of the Travel Permission Form are available through email or in the band hall.

We would also love to have some parents join us. If you are available from 8:00 to noon on Friday and would like to supervise children and be entertained in the process, please let us know by the end of the day on Thursday. Again, I apologize for the late notice.

The second item is to let you know that our spring fundraising project has begun. The SFMMS Band and Choir are selling discount cards which may be used continually through January 31st, 2008. Discounts are available from The Brown Bag, Good Auto Sales & Lube, Hot Pit BBQ, Jett Bowl, McDonalds, Quizno's and eleven other local restaurants. These are great deals and we want to thank the sponsors for making this possible.

All sells before January 18th will be eligible for prizes, but you are more than welcome to continue selling the cards through the end of the month. The primary purpose of this project is to raise money for the All Star Band trip to a band competition in San Antonio followed by the rest of the day at Fiesta Texas. The competition will take place on May 5th. The cost of the trip will be $100 for each student who qualifies for the All Star Band. Every item sold in the fall and every card sold in the spring will add $3 into the trip account and each student who sells 30 items and cards will have the trip costs paid. Any balance due after the two fundraising projects may be paid to the band.

This is the first time that either of the sixth grade bands or choirs will be going to a competition of this nature and we are excited that your children will be able to earn the privilege of going on the trip. We will have room for about ten parents to join us on that trip as well. If you are interested, please let us know and we will get further details to you within the next month.

Again, welcome back. We are excited to have the opportunity to continue working with your children and anxious to discover what the rest of this school year holds.

Christmas Concert Time!

2006-12-04T14:02:00.000-06:00

The SFMMS Band Christmas Concert is almost here! In an effort to help finalize the music for the concert, we are having sectionals this week on Wednesday December 6th for Woodwinds, and Thursday December 7th for Brass students. Both sectionals will run from 3:30–5:00pm in the band hall.

On Monday December 11th, all band students will have a full band rehearsal after school from 3:30-5:00pm in the gymnasium. Please make arrangements for your child to attend the appropriate sectionals. These are essential to allow the students to have a great concert on Tuesday.

Students will need to report to be seated in the gym ready to warm up with their instrument, band binder, blue band shirt, blue jeans, and nice shoes by 4:45pm on Tuesday. Following our warm-up, there will be a restroom break from 6:00pm to 6:45pm. During this time, you may bring a snack (not a complete meal) for your child. The concert will begin at 7:00pm and should conclude by 8:00pm.

We are planning on having a Christmas Party for the band students on Friday December 22nd. More details concerning that will follow after the concert. If you are interested in helping to set up or help to plan for that, please email Mr. Wagner to let me know of your interest. Thanks!

Thank You Parents

2006-11-13T11:17:00.000-06:00

We want to first of all thank all of the parents for coming to our section concerts and supporting your children in their music education. This is also a special note of appreciation to the parents of the clarinet players who had to go out of their way to pick them up Wednesday afternoon. Thank you so much for your tremendous help in making the School Dedication and Memorial such a wonderful success. Many of the audience members have made it a point to let us know personally how much the music added to the experience. We are still getting emails and notes from community members expressing their appreciation for the event.

This Thursday will be our final section concert of the fall semester, featuring the low brass sections. All Trombone, Euphonium, and Tuba students should report to the band hall after school, have a rehearsal until 4:00, have pizza, and then begin the concert at 5:00pm. This concert will be over by 5:30pm. We hope that you can come out and hear the results of the hard work that these young men and women have been putting into their instruments. Because of the number of students represented in the concert this week and because of limited spacing and seating availability, you are encouraged to be early if you would like to ensure that you can be inside the band hall for the concert.

All the rest of the students should be working diligently on their Christmas concert music as well as the warm up exercises that we are working on in class. Please continue encouraging them to fill out their practice planners and be sure that they are signed each week. The more you can encourage your children, the more successful they will be. Again thank you so much for everything that you do for your children. You have no idea how much the little things help to make the San Felipe Memorial Middle School Band great.

Week #13

2006-11-06T22:23:00.000-06:00

This week is an action-packed week with the SFMMS Band. On Wednesday, our clarinet players will play for the school's ribbon-cutting ceremony and on Thursday, the trumpet and horn sections will have their first section concert.

We are still awaiting finalized details for Wednesday, but the ceremony is set to begin at 6:30pm at the old stadium. We will meet in the band hall after school, have some pizza as a snack, and then begin rehearsal around 4:45 or 5:00. We will work on the music together with the choir. and then move out to the field around 6:00. We will set up in the bleachers and be prepared to play some. We are assuming that the whole thing will be over by around 7:30, but have not gotten that information.

The trumpet and horn section concert will be the same schedule as previous section concerts. Students will report to the band hall after school, have a rehearsal until 4:00, have pizza, and then begin the concert at 5:00pm. This concert will be over by 5:30pm.

Students should wear their blue band shirt, blue jeans, and nice shoes for both events.

Week #12

2006-10-30T14:31:00.000-06:00

This Friday will be our third in a series of section concerts. The Saxophone section will be performing at 5:00pm in the band hall after school, and the concert will finish by 5:30pm. We would love to have all parents of our saxophone players and any other interested audience members join us to hear the progress these young men and women have made.

This is the final week of the second six weeks grading period. All students should be keeping up with their homework every day. Please reiterate to them that failure to return even one homework assignment can have a catastrophic impact on their grades. If you have any concerns or if there is any way that we can help, please email us at joel.wagner@sfdr-cisd.org or daniel.white@sfdr-cisd.org and we will gladly do whatever we can.

Finally, there are a few events of note next week. We have previously announced a Trumpet and Horn section concert on Thursday November 9th. We have been presented with an opportunity to have members of the SFMMS Band perform for the school’s Ribbon-Cutting and Recognition of War Veterans ceremonies. The Ribbon-Cutting will be on Monday November 6th and the Recognition Ceremony will be on Wednesday November 8th. We are asking that all clarinet players be there to perform for these ceremonies. More details will come as soon as they are made available to us. All other band students who would like to come and help out with the ceremony are invited. All band students should wear their blue band shirts, blue jeans, and nice shoes unless they are otherwise involved in the ceremony (student council, etc.).

Week #10

2006-10-20T09:04:00.000-05:00

The San Felipe Memorial Middle School Band is continuing to improve with each passing day. In order to be constantly improving, all of the students should be practicing their instrument each day. Below are some keys to listen for in the practice time. But first, there are a couple of events to bring to your attention that are coming up next week.

On Wednesday October 25th, the truck will be arriving to deliver our fundraising order. Please ensure that arrangements are made to transport these items home after school on Wednesday. The other event next week is a Flute Section Concert on Friday October 27th. The concert will begin at 5:00pm and will be completed by 5:30. All flute students will stay after school and practice. There will be a break from 4:00 to 4:45. During that break, pizza and drinks will be provided.

Future Section Concert dates are Saxophones on Friday November 3rd, Trumpets and Horns on Thursday November 9th, and Trombones/Euphoniums/Tubas on Thursday November 16th. The schedule for those will be approximately the same with the concert beginning after school at 5:00 and ending around 5:30.

Practice Concerns

Some keys to listen and watch for during practice are:

· Steady Tempo – the speed of the music should not fluctuate, but should be constant; most students try to play faster than their brains and fingers work

· Good Tone – all woodwind and brass players should have very relaxed sounds; if the sound is stuffy, teeth or throat may be too tight or closed; the solution is to relax muscles more

· Right Notes – if the music sounds wrong, it probably is; brass players may be too high or too low, trombone slides may be in the wrong place, and all other woodwind and brass players may be pushing wrong buttons

· Extra Notes – these can happen when students move their valves, keys, or slides at a different time than they move their tongue; another cause might be changing fingerings while playing a note

· Percussion Concerns – all percussionists should be practicing both their bells and their practice pad; hands should remain relaxed while playing with elbow movement at a very minimum

Practice Planners should be filled out by students each day and signed by a parent each week. Additional copies may be printed from the SFMMS Band Website. The goal of practice should be to fix problems. When students play what they already know how to play, they are often not fixing problems and so most practice time should not necessarily sound good as students are focusing on those areas that they do not do well. If you don’t hear any wrong notes, encourage them to work on something that is more challenging for them. All woodwind and brass players should be able to play all of the notes up through Line 39. Flutes and clarinets have learned all of the notes necessary to play through Line 118.

As always, thank you so much for everything that you do for your children. We wouldn’t be able to do what we do without your support and help!

Week#9 Update

2006-10-09T16:15:00.000-05:00

Throughout the year, we will be having occasional informal section concerts to allow parents to come and hear the progress of our students. This Friday will be the first one, featuring the clarinet section. The clarinet players will come to the band hall after school, play a little bit, have some pizza, and then begin their performance at 5:00pm. The whole presentation should be over by 5:30pm. More details will be discussed during the 3^rd period class, and information will be sent home with clarinet players this week.

Also on Friday evening, the Del Rio High School Mighty Ram Band will be presenting a post-game performance of this year’s UIL Marching competition show. Any students or parents who are at the game on Friday are encouraged to stay and see the show.

People have been asking us when the fundraising items will be delivered. The delivery should come in by the end of this month. More details will follow as they are known.

Once again, thank you for everything that you do to support the education of your students. As always, if you have any questions, comments, complaints, or concerns, please do not hesitate to call or email us here at the school.

Week #6 Update

2006-09-18T15:55:00.000-05:00

It is hard to believe that we are already through five weeks of school. The students in the San Felipe Memorial Middle School Band are hard at work learning how to play their instruments and the progress that they have made in less than a month of playing is incredible. Some of the woodwind sections have already begun to play a song. At the same time, the brass players are working on learning to control their muscles to play the different notes on their instruments. The percussionists are working on both their practice pads and bell kits and learning how to read music and play some of their rudiments.

Fundraising packets should have gone home with students last week. This will hopefully help us to go play in a contest in San Antonio in the spring, as well as providing many other instructional benefits to them, so please encourage them to sell at least a few items. Every dollar helps us provide the students with a great education and a wonderful beginning band experience. The money and order forms for this will be due back this week. For more information, check out the band web page.

Students should be practicing their instruments every day, or as often as possible. If you do not see instruments coming home, encourage them to practice. We also have practice planners to fill out. These help them to become more responsible and to set goals for their practice time. If you get a chance to do so, please sit down and work with them on these wonderful tools. You should sign the practice planners each week, so if you are not doing so, ask questions.

Once again, thank you for allowing your children to be a wonderful part of the SFMMS Band this year!

Week #4

2006-09-05T13:32:00.000-05:00

We hope that every student has had an enjoyable first three weeks at San Felipe Memorial Middle School. They all seem to be working hard and having a good time in band so far.

This update is simply to inform you that there are still a handful of students who have not yet gotten their instruments. All of our classes should be playing by the end of the week so anyone who does not have an instrument yet is going to be getting further and further behind with each day they are not prepared. Please help us out with this matter as soon as possible! Anyone playing school instruments should be getting them this week as well, if they have paid their $20 instrument usage fee.

Another point of concern is that there are quite a few students who have not yet paid for their band t-shirts. This is an essential part of the band uniform, so we ask that anyone who has not paid please bring $8.00 to school as soon as possible. This way, when the band shirts arrive this month, every student will be able to get them.

We have a lot of great things in store for the SFMMS Band this year. As always, please let us know if you have any concerns or questions.

We Begin Playing Monday

2006-08-23T17:12:00.000-05:00

This is a final reminder.

We will have music stores in the cafeteria this Thursday, August 24th. Parents should attend this evening any time between 6:00pm and 9:00pm to talk to the various stores about arrangements to get an approved instrument, mouthpiece, cleaning supplies, metronome, Essential Elements Band Book. We will begin playing on Monday the 28th. Keep in mind that students who play school-owned instruments (Horn, Euphonium, and Tuba) should also attend this evening to buy their Essential Elements Book, mouthpiece, cleaning supplies, and metronome.

If you are unable to make it that evening, please go to http://www.sfdr-cisd.org/, click on San Felipe Memorial Middle School (6^th Grade), and click on the SFMMS Band web page. Scroll to the bottom of the page and download a copy of the SFMMS Recommended Instrument List. You should use that list as a reference when you make outside arrangements for the instrument and mouthpieces.

We hope to see you there!

Band Instrument Night

2006-08-16T13:22:00.000-05:00

On August 24th, we will have some music stores setting up at SFMMS. They will be available to discuss renting or purchasing a district-approved instrument and accessories. All beginning band students should attend this evening any time from 6:00 until 9:00pm. The location of the event is tentatively scheduled for the SFMMS Gymnasium. Finalized information will be announced in class next week.

We ask that all students make every possible effort to come by sometime during this three-hour event. Even if they have an instruments, students should make arrangements to get proper supplies (reeds, valve oil, slide grease, drum sticks, metronomes, etc.) as well as the proper Essential Elements 2000 Beginning Band Method Book. Students who are unable to attend this evening should make arrangements with one of the music stores to rent or purchase an instrument. As previously mentioned, all students are expected to get instruments that are on the SFDRCISD Approved Instrument List.

What To Bring To School

2006-08-05T09:31:00.000-05:00

I know that as the school year begins, many parents rush out to buy a new instrument for their students. We would recommend not doing that if you can at all avoid it. The San Felipe Del Rio CISD has a recommended instrument list that we have thoroughly researched and include an assortment of instruments that are made by reputable manufacturers that are known for high quality workmanship.

Often, when students come to band with instruments that are not on the recommended instrument list, they have problems with valves, slides, keys, pads, or screws. These problems can sometimes be easily solved, but there are many cases where we have seen these problems compound and parts are unavailable for the repairs, so the students often end up being unable to play their instrument for weeks at a time. As a result, we highly recommend buying an instrument (specific manufacturer and model number) that is on the list.

That will be made available at the beginning of the school year, and may also be obtained by emailing joel.wagner@sfdr-cisd.org and asking for it. We will not be playing instruments in the first couple of weeks of school, and so an students do not even need to bring instruments until they are instructed to do so in class.

On August 24th, we will have some music stores setting up at SFMMS. They will be available to discuss renting or purchasing a district-approved instrument and accessories. All beginning band students should attend this evening any time from 6:00 until 9:00pm. Location will be determined at a later date.

The only thing that students will need for band during the first week of school will be a 1" 3 ring binder.

Summer Ending

2006-07-14T16:41:00.000-05:00

As the summer comes to an end, I am sure that some of the students are getting anxious to begin the school year. For the students going into seventh and eighth grade, summer band practices begin on Wednesday July 26th. This is an important time for them as they get to meet the other students in their bands and also learn how to march.

There is no summer band for sixth grade. Students do not even need instruments until after the school year begins. We recommend waiting to purchase instruments until after school has begun so that students are certain they will be in band and be playing the instrument that they have chosen. The first few weeks of the school year will be spent getting to know one another and learning some music-reading basics and other vital fundamentals. We look forward to beginning an exciting school year.

2006-05-15T22:33:00.000-05:00

As the 2005-2006 school year comes to a close, we also prepare to close a chapter of history in Del Rio. Marion Russell Middle School will hold its last day of classes on May 26th, 2006. San Felipe Middle School will open for sixth grade students in August. Many exciting things are in store for the 2006-2007 San Felipe Middle School band students as we transition to this newly redesigned campus. Exciting things are coming this summer. If you are interested in keeping up with the developments and/or getting news updates throughout the school year, please subscribe in the box on the right.