newsletter
September 7, 2025

Weekly Newsletter - september 7, 2025

Sent 9/7/2025, 4:15 PM.

Another successful game under our belts.  Band sounded great, and big thanks, once again, to all our parent volunteers that make each game and performance a success.

I have a lot of things to cover this week, so let's dig in.

What's in this newsletter?

Here's what I have for you all this week:

• Parent Meeting - Our first in-season parent meeting will be this Wednesday, 9/10 at 6:30 PM in the band room

• Student Accounts - I know it has take a while this year because of some new budgetary uncertainties, but student accounts should be updated soon with shared costs and direct charges

• Clearance Note - A quick note for people who have an active clearance, but may have received an email regarding getting a new badge

• Spring Trip Update - Quick update on the spring trip

• Schedule Updates - APS has moved some things around in our football game schedule...

• Jazz Uniforms - The jazz uniform is ensemble-specific, and shirts/ties are being ordered now.  I have a note for Jazz II students...

• Volunteer Opportunities - all our current volunteer opportunities will be listed here throughout the season - still plenty of open slots for spiritwear help, hydration, and we've added a few more chaperone slots to the upcoming football games

• And a word from Mr. Sayre - always make time to read through this section

This week in band...

Monday 9/8

• 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM - Woodwind/Brass Sectionals

Tuesday 9/9

• 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM - Tuesday Rehearsal - Make sure you have a large water bottle - filled with water!

Wednesday 9/10

• 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM - Color Guard Class

• 6:30 PM - Parent Meeting in the band room

Thursday 9/11

• 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM - Percussion Class

Now on to the details...

Parent Meeting

Throughout the season, we hold optional parent meetings to provide the opportunity to hear from the directors and boosters on how the season is going, and giving you the opportunity to ask us any burning questions you may have.  Our first meeting will be held this Wednesday, 9/10, at 6:30 PM in the band room.  Hope to see you there!

Student Accounts

This year, for a number of reasons, there has been some uncertainty in our budgeting process.  But we think we have gotten past that, and with our summer fundraising campaign ending, we are ready to start assigning shared costs to the student accounts.  Additionally, any direct costs, like gloves, marching shoes, or jazz uniforms (more on those below) should start showing up in the financial section of Cut Time.  Look for those to start appearing this week. Thanks for your patience as we worked through this.

Clearance Note

If you already have an active clearance and badge, but received a notification from APS that they need to issue you a new badge, please follow the directions provided to do this.  Apparently some badges were printed by APS without expiration dates, and need to be reissued.  Thanks for your attention to this.

Spring Trip Update

Just wanted to drop a note that the spring trip is still coming.  We are working through some scheduling elements in the plan that are taking a while to get details on.  Normally we would be doing commitment forms right now, but we are pushing that back so we can ensure you have all the information you may need to help you decide on committing to going on spring trip or not.  Stay tuned.

Schedule Updates

Due to a shortage of referees this year, APS has been shifting game schedules around.  The calendar is always kept up-to-date (so subscribe if you haven't yet...) but I wanted to inform you of a few changes.

• Game originally scheduled for Fri 10/17 is now being played on Thur 10/16

• Game originally scheduled for Fri 10/31 was moved to 11/1 (which we had to drop because that day is Zia), and has since been moved again to Thur 10/30, which will now be our Halloween game

Jazz Uniforms

Jazz students have ensemble specific shirts and ties for their jazz uniforms.  So any student new to jazz, or having moved to a new jazz ensemble, will be fitted for a shirt and tie.  Those items will be direct charges to the student accounts.  

For Jazz II, this year, the company that has provided us orange shirts in the past dropped that color from their availability.  In order to ensure that the group doesn't end up having multiple colors of orange shirt, all of Jazz II is being resized for shirts this year.  I apologize for this inconvenience, but this was out of our hands, and we want to the group to look its best for performances.  Thanks for your understanding.

Volunteer Opportunities

Here is a list of all our current volunteer opportunities.  You can also see these anytime on the Volunteering page of the website.  Remember, you need to have your unsupervised clearance to volunteer.

• Football Chaperones: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0D48ADAA2DA1FB6-football#/

• Football Spiritwear Helper: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0D48ADAA2DA1FB6-football2#/

• Hydration Volunteer: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080F4BA4AD23A4FE3-57908908-hydration#/

Go Eagles!

JD

a word from Mr. Sayre...

Hello Eagles!

Great work on Friday at the football game—you played great and showed a lot of Eagle Pride supporting the team. Big thanks to the parents who provided snacks, chaperoned, and helped transport equipment. It’s been a productive week, and now our focus is on getting the rest of the show on the field in the next couple of weeks.

This Week’s Rehearsal Schedule

• Monday, September 8 – Sectionals (Woodwinds & Brass) 4:00–5:00 PM

• Tuesday, September 9 – Full Band Rehearsal, 4:00–6:00 PM, marching field

• Wednesday, September 10 – Color Guard Class 4:00–6:00 PM, M4

• Wednesday, September 10 – Parent Meeting in the evening. This is optional, but a great chance to hear updates and ask questions.

• Thursday, September 11 – Percussion Class 4:00–6:00 PM

Looking Ahead

• Wednesday, September 17 – UNM Wind Symphony Concert (evening). Extra credit opportunity for students who attend!

• Friday, September 19 – Football Game vs. Volcano Vista at Community Stadium.

• Saturday, September 20 – Full-Day Marching Band Rehearsal, 9:00 AM–4:00 PM.

Reminder – Band Class Fee ($25) can be paid online through SchoolPay. These funds directly support transportation and other essential program needs.

Let’s keep working hard and bringing the energy—our season is just getting started!

Go Eagles!

Mr. Sayre