Students in band are graded in four categories:

• Daily Participation in Class - 10%
• Practice Lines (Homework) - 10%
• Playing Tests - 50%
• Performances - 30%

Daily Participation
Each student earns 2 points a day toward their daily participation. The small number of points makes each day a low impact so students can quickly recover from losing points. We created this grade to help parents get a picture of what class time looks like for their child. Are they behaving, bringing their instrument, participating in their learning, etc.

• 2 points - Meets all expectations
• 1 point - Small behavior infraction or missing supplies that doesn't totally prevent participation (missing pencil, for example)
• 0 points - Multiple behavior infractions or missing supplies that prevents meaningful participation.

Practice Lines (Homework)
Instead of logging practice minutes, I prefer to hear students practice. This lets me check in how they are progressing learning new skills. Students are typically assigned 1 or 2 practice lines per week (each worth 5 points). The lines involve newer skills that need developed. While students are practicing the lines, they will record themselves in EEi and submit.

I am not grading how well they perform, however, if minimal effort is shown, I can have the student submit again.

Playing Tests 
This category is the most important of all. Students are assigned music to record and submit. The music involves skills that the student should be familiar with. Each playing test is worth 10 points, however this category is 50% of the student's overall grade. 

Performances
Performances are an important part of being in band. There are several aspects of performing, including the rehearsals leading up to a performance, that count toward a student's grade in this category. 

The band website serves as a primary resource for parents to find band information. You may want to bookmark rpbands.com/south for easy access.

Information that is emailed out to groups of the band are also posted on the website. You can find these emails by going to the News & Updates section on the South website. 

We also use the Remind app to send reminders and last minute updates. Remind is also used to communicate with students when we are at events, such as the 7th/8th grade trip to Worlds of Fun (more info on those trips will be available later).

Seventh & Eighth grade students and parents can sign up, but students must have parental permission. Students under the age of 13 will be asked to add a parent phone number (for texts) or an email address. This allows parents to receive all the same communications as their child. More details can be found in the News & Updates section. Due to school district policy, there is not a remind sign up for 6th graders.

Contact Info
The best way to contact me is by email. During the school day, I can respond to emails more quickly than a phone call. No matter how you contact me, I will respond as soon as possible. Please include your child's name when emailing. 

dillon.jarrett@raypec.org