newsletter
February 25, 2024
Weekly Newsletter - FEBRUARY 25, 2024
Sent 2/25/2024, 7:05 PM.
Hope everyone had a good weekend. I don't have too much for you this week...
Just want to remind everyone that we have just a week and a half to pay off student accounts. 3/6/2024 is NEXT WEDNESDAY. Make sure you stay on top of your accounts and if you need help getting to the payment system, please let me know ASAP.
Our annual Winter Guard Invitational is this coming Saturday - come out and support our Everlasting Winter Guard (details below in Mr. Sayre's section).
Also, MPA is right around the corner, and we still need 5 chaperones for that evening. Plus Mr. Sayre has a few words on that below...
What's in this newsletter?
Here's what I have for you all this week:
Cut Time Note - Just a few notes regarding Cut Time
Student Accounts - 1 1/2 weeks left to pay down student accounts.
Volunteer Opportunities - MPA chaperone signups are available - still need 5 people to chaperone
And a word from Mr. Sayre - as always, make sure you read through this section.
This week in band...
Wednesday 2/28
4:00 PM - 6:00 PM - Color Guard Sectional
Thursday 2/29
4:30 PM - 6:00 PM - Percussion Sectional
Saturday 3/2
Winterguard Invitational - Hoover Middle School
Now on to the details...
Cut Time Note
I just wanted to give a quick note about the Cut Time switch over. So far, it seems to have gone relatively smoothly. I've been dealing with a few phone number issues as they pop up, but nothing major, so thank you for your patience and efforts in helping us make this transition. The board is having to replace all of it's backend management systems because of this Charms shutdown, and with 150+ student accounts and 400+ contacts, it is neither a quick nor an easy process, so thanks for your continued patience.
I am aware that the mechanism Cut Time uses to send announcements is very annoying, and I apologize for all the clicks it takes to get even the simplest of messages. Please bear with us. I am in regular communication with the company that is developing the system, and giving them feedback on the system. They are very receptive to customer feedback so far, and that is a promising thing, but they are a small software development organization. Know that they are working on simplifying the announcements to allow for the message to be sent directly through on the text message. I do not yet have a delivery date, but it is high on their priority list.
Student Accounts
We are down to just 1 1/2 weeks away from the 3/6/24 deadline to have ALL fees paid. Please make sure you are staying on top of your student accounts. Statements went out this past week, so please let us know if you have any questions.
IMPORTANT! If you are unsure HOW to pay fees, you can get the instructions on how to get into the Band Store to pay them on the Fee Management page of the Handbook. If you do NOT know your student's Charms ID, let us know and we can get that to you. Fees have NOT been moved to Cut Time yet - all fees are still paid in the Band Store per the instructions above.
A few reminders regarding accounts and fees:
The majority of the performance fees we charge are expensed during marching season, so the booster program fronts those costs but allows you to pay them over time as a convenience.
If you are attending spring trip, ALL fees - spring trip fees, performance fees, direct charges (uniforms, all-state fees, etc.) - must be paid by March 6, 2024 to remain eligible.
Any unpaid balances at the end of the school year DO rollover to the next year...
Volunteer Opportunities
MPA Chaperone Signup: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0D48ADAA2DA1FB6-47847186-2024
As always, all signups are available on the Volunteering page.
Have a great week!
Go Eagles!
JD
AND a word from Mr. Sayre...
Hello Eagle Band Community!
We made it through a BUSY couple of weeks! Thank you for staying strong and making Jazz Fest and our Pre-Festival concerts a success. The next few weeks we will be honing in on our MPA music and making it sound as great as possible. As Mr Snowden and I want to let parents and students know that within the next 7 days is when EHS students need to put maximum effort into cleaning up any spots in their music so we can spend our rehearsal class time at EHS working on making the bands sound good as a group rather than focus on individuals. Parents and Guardians, we ask that you help us out! If there is ever a time for the EHS students to bring their instrument home and practice their MPA music that time is NOW so be sure to remind your high schooler to practice. The best way to know if we are going to be successful at MPA is to have consistent and predictable rehearsal between now and then. We thank you for your support in this!
We have plenty coming up so read carefully:
Winter Guard Invitational is March 2nd at Hoover Middle School. Come support your Everlasting Winter Guard! Here is a link to the schedule for the day. If you are a willing and able student and you would like to help, come see Mr. Sayre for some opportunities to help the band at this event.
March 6th Popejoy Concert featuring the EHS Wind Ensemble and the UNM Wind Symphony will start at 7:30. EHS students must get themselves to UNM. Details regarding call time and stage warm-up times will be sent out as soon as they are available. We should be able to get as many complimentary tickets as we wish. Plan on bringing everybody!
2024 MPA: is at Manzano High School and we will perform on Thursday March 14th. Our performance times are as follows:
Concert Band: Performs at 4:00 PM
Wind Ensemble: Performs at 6:30 PM
Symphonic Band: Performs at 8:00 PM
Here is the plan for the week for the bands. Note that if information is incomplete that the document is a live document and updates are possible tonight or throughout the week.
GO EAGLES!
Mr. Sayre