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Reading the notification...I am stunned a bit....wasn't this discussed at the School Board meetings in advance?

Not to my knowledge, but I'll admit that I am lax about attending school board meetings. The other band parent that informed me, was surprised as well. From what we put together this was done by site administration and approved by district administration; if it went to the board it was probably under the guise of schedule approval with no deep discussion. So this weekend I'll be emailing other band parents that I know and then sending this letter or an edited version to the local paper. If parts read awkward, I realized after I posted it that I forgot to edit it for internet, and removed names and identifiable places, you can tell by the brackets where I replaced the school name with [middle school]. Unfortunately, I think I'll either be out of town or just getting back into town for the next school board meeting, but you can bet that I'll be emailing a longer version to the school board sometime next week.

I wish there was more time -- I could find studies you could cite to further support your argument! (Among them, studies that have shown that children who are exposed to a strong music program are more likely to graduate and go on to college.) Also, if I'm understanding the proposal correctly, the Spanish language program would also suffer; students could conceivably receive one intense trimester of Spanish and then nothing for the rest of the year -- they'd forget most of what they've learned by the time they'd get another class. I hope the best comes to you and the rest of the band parents.

While I can't address this as a parent or teacher of children, I can say that your letter sounds quite reasonable and logical (which is important). As someone who took band in grades 7-9, I appreciate it for that reason as well, and fully agree that cutting down access to the arts in general is cutting off your nose to spite your face. Citing some studies definitely couldn't hurt, as long as you make sure that they're studies that at least seem to use a good methodology and don't seem too terribly biased.

Originally posted by ElectricWhite Also, if I'm understanding the proposal correctly, the Spanish language program would also suffer; students could conceivably receive one intense trimester of Spanish and then nothing for the rest of the year -- they'd forget most of what they've learned by the time they'd get another class.

Very true. However, they have to have at least five trimesters of Spanish, so some could conceivably get it back to back. It is just a very poor educational model.

I'll do that, citing research, for the board, but this one is for the newspaper and as much to get other parents on board and the issue out to the public. Our paper has a policy of only 300 words and I'm already at 500, but they do make allowances. So hopefully they will for this one.

Ah, yes, good point!

Originally posted by amethyst Our paper has a policy of only 300 words and I'm already at 500, but they do make allowances. So hopefully they will for this one.

That was my initial thought when I read this...it is too long...I am going to work on shortening it, okay.

Originally posted by k2p2

Originally posted by amethyst Our paper has a policy of only 300 words and I'm already at 500, but they do make allowances. So hopefully they will for this one.

That was my initial thought when I read this...it is too long...I am going to work on shortening it, okay.

That's why I asked for critical feedback. I was trying to keep any fluff/filler out, but also make my points.

Cracks knuckles...we will make it work.

They make it sound more like college. One class per semester (in thos case trimester). Kids that age need constant teaching to retain what they learn, i.e. language and band year round. I do have a problem with required Spanish. They had that here starting in first grade through sixth. In seventh, they added other languages. I, as a parent, should be deciding, in conjunstion with my child's interest, what language or languages my child will learn. Not the school district. Especially when Spanish is not our language. Band needs to be constant. I played the flute. Had I not played for a trimester at a time, I would have lost interest very quickly.

Thank you to K2, who after a few technical difficulties between our emails, was able to give me some detailed feedback. She pointed out a few things to help make the this more professional and less personal, and also pointed out one major point that increased the quality of this position ten-fold. It's something that I should have seen had I been thinking like a teacher instead of a parent. I think in addition to sending this to the paper, I'll also give it directly to the principal and let her know my intentions. Here's the revised letter. Again, comments and critical feedback are always welcome. As a parent of a student at [the] Middle School, I'm concerned about the schedule for next year. This change is going to harm our music program and Spanish language studies. Students getting their elective for an entire trimester or a full trimester of Spanish and then switching sounds good, but is not. Students will not gain anything in academics as teacher-contact hours are not changing, but will lose precious time for both Band and Spanish. While this may not affect students in Video Tech, Art or Drama, it will negatively impact the students studying music. Like English and math, music requires constant practice. A student who only gets one trimester of music will fall behind classmates who are lucky enough to get two. A student who only gets music every other trimester may lose interest without the constant focus to keep his or her attention (such a thing is not the fault of the student, but a developmental fact). Many years ago, our music program nearly perished. The last few years have been spent rebuilding the [] band and starting the Elementary band from scratch after it was dissolved several years ago. The music program is not the only program that will suffer. Students serious about learning Spanish will also have suffer the same as music students. After a twelve weeks or more without daily reinforcement, how many students will retain what they have spent the last twelve weeks learning? How much time will be wasted on reteaching old vocabulary instead of building new vocabulary? Language acquisition needs constant practice. So does learning to play a musical instrument. For the sake of the students who wish to learn, please do not let this change happen.

I have some slight edits to suggest. I think, also, that Video Tech, Art, and Drama students would probably suffer too. In anything creative, you get better through practice. Edited version: As a parent of a student at [the] Middle School, I'm concerned about the schedule for next year. This change is going to harm our music program and Spanish language studies. Students getting their elective for an entire trimester or a full trimester and then switching sounds good, but is not. Students will gain nothing in academics as teacher-contact hours are not changing, but will lose precious time for both Band and Spanish. While this may not affect students in Video Tech, Art or Drama, it will negatively impact the students studying music and Spanish. Like English and math, both music and languages require constant practice. A student who only gets one trimester of music will fall behind classmates who are lucky enough to get two. A student who only gets music every other trimester may lose interest without the constant focus to keep his or her attention (such a thing is not the fault of the student, but a developmental fact). Many years ago, our music program nearly perished. The last few years have been spent rebuilding the [] band and starting the Elementary band from scratch after it was dissolved several years ago. The same goes for students serious about learning Spanish. After twelve weeks or more without daily reinforcement, how many students will retain what they spent the last twelve weeks learning? How much time will be wasted on re-teaching old vocabulary instead of building new vocabulary? For the sake of the students who wish to learn, please don't let this change happen.

Becky, I'm mixed on the idea of required Spanish. Living in California it comes in very handy. Plus buried somewhere in the treaty that gave California to the US and possibly even within the state constitution, it is written that California was supposed to remain bi-lingual. With technology making our world small, being fluent in several languages gives people an edge over those who aren't. Europe is well ahead of the US in this area because it has always been necessary for them. As a country, I believe that we need to rethink our language development programs and start earlier instead of later. But, I also believe that until it is more unified that it should be the choice of the students and parents and not because the school administration is in bed with the Realtors trying to sell expensive houses to snooty parents who choose public schools because it makes them look less stuck or something. I can tell you that my daughter enjoys Spanish but would drop it in a heartbeat if she had to choose between it and band, and with my blessings. She is quite skilled in music and is considering majoring in it in college. Something she is not with Spanish.

Chris, if any of those suffer, it would likely be Art. The ways those programs work currently if a student takes them two years in a row, they do the exact same things two years in a row. The school tries to avoid that though, by not letting the students do that whenever possible, except with Art. I can see where those students would suffer, but I've noticed that artists are like writers and more likely to doodle and stuff when bored. There skills won't progress as quickly as they would with continual study, but they won't digress as quickly as music and language skills would. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll add it in. I nearly did, but wasn't sure since I wanted to focus on the music there. Seeing it though, separate from my document, I like it.

While I see your point, I also think that it helps your case to point out any other program that will suffer (without overreaching), as that widens the number of students who will be affected. The more problems the new policy creates, the bigger the chance that something will be done about it.