APS band in elementary
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Anonymous
| Is it required at all elementary schools in fourth and fifth grade? |
Anonymous
| Not required |
Anonymous
| I think ATS requires it but at other schools it is optional. |
Anonymous
Thank you. We are at ATS and I was wondering if everyone was required to do it. |
Anonymous
| Yes. ATS requires band and chorus for all 4th and 5th graders. It’s optional at all other schools. |
Anonymous
| Former ATS parent here - yes, required at ATS. One of the reasons we liked ATS. |
Anonymous
| Abingdon used to require it too. Not sure if they still do. |
Anonymous
| Not optional at all other APS elementary schools. I have had 2 go through Abingdon and all 4th and 5th graders are required to either take band or strings. |
Anonymous
| ATS parent here. I didn’t know other schools required it. Thanks for sharing. Good info to have. |
Anonymous
| For schools that require it do they provide instruments for all students. We are renting but I can see where folks might not have that option financially |
Anonymous
At our school the provided them for students who qualified for free/reduced meals and others if available. I’m renting for $45/month. If it wasn’t mandatory we wouldn’t be doing it because my kid doesn’t enjoy it. |
Anonymous
what instrument and where are you renting from? We're in FCPS and renting a trombone from Foxes for under $20/month. $45 seems like a lot - your kid must have chosen the most expensive instrument which is unfortunate if they don't like it... |
Anonymous
I'm so glad its optional at our school. I did band for 2 years, chose to, and hated it- I was terrible and never really picked up reading music. If my kids want to try it then that's great but I want them to have the ability to opt out as well. |
Anonymous
| I wouldn't mind it being mandatory so that my kid wasn't pulled out of ELA for band. |
Anonymous
And I did band starting in 4th grade, played through HS and college and loved it. Lifelong friends. People need to read up on schools that require it - i.e. ATS who requires it and this is a choice/optional school. There's a lot of benefits to music and the performing arts. They don't make you take it because they think you'll become some virtuoso (although that would be nice) but because it has other benefits in life. Cultural, concentration, working as a team, mathematical, etc. Switch out opting out of band with opting out of PE. The two have similar benefits. |