You get used to the pre season commitment. We are in Moco so school starts a week earlier than VA, plus pre season. My DC starts August 6th this year. We just take vacation in July now, which has been an adjustment.

I've just started to hear about these requirements myself as my son is not yet in high school.
We have a friend whose daughter is a swimmer. She is also a cheerleader. She couldn't swim at divisionals, because she would miss the first cheerleader meeting/practice. Her coach told her if she missed the first practice, she would be off the squad. I have a tough time understanding how one coach can think his sport or activity trumps another like that, especially in the summer.

Thanks to (almost) everyone! Most of you were very helpful, and I appreciate the advice about getting a lower-tier instrument, etc.

My child is very committed, musically, and I'm sure will want to play in the symphonic band all through high school. And if he wants to play in the marching band and to make that time commitment, we will have to talk about it as a family, and with our extended family, to see what we could arrange regarding our vacation slot (which is not changeable easily, if at all.)

However, I am quite surprised to find that, essentially, wanting to play in a symphonic band, during class hours in addition to travel competitions and performances, during the entire school year for four years, could all be forbidden due to pre-existing, long-standing, family plans for one lone week of summer vacation. That seems extreme to me. I will indeed talk to the band director to see whether the implementation of the policy is more humane that it appears at first blush.

FWIW, I've checked some of the other local high schools, and at some (including magnets that draw from ours), marching band is optional, not mandatory.

Finally, to clarify to the helpful posters, I'm not talking about this August. My child is not yet a rising 9th grader; I just learned this information and am considering it in advance.

Anonymous wrote:This was a requirement way back when I went to school as well (a Ffx. Co. school). To be perfectly honest, marching band was probably the best experience of any I had in HS. And I had a great time in HS (was in 2 different varsity sports, class president, etc.).

Yes, it is a time commitment, but it is really a lot of fun.

I am surprised, however, that you are just learning this now. This was made clear to us early on in middle school. I never really wanted to run cross country or play field hockey, so I didn't run into any problems with fall sports.

If I were you, I'd speak to the band director and explain your situation (that is if your child really wants to be in band - marching band by the way is MUCH more fun that regular, symphonic band IMO). You may be able to swing something re: your vacation.

i doubt it. more likely what she just learned was mandatory means mandatory. i.e. she had to follow the rules like everyone else.

This was a requirement way back when I went to school as well (a Ffx. Co. school). To be perfectly honest, marching band was probably the best experience of any I had in HS. And I had a great time in HS (was in 2 different varsity sports, class president, etc.).

Yes, it is a time commitment, but it is really a lot of fun.

I am surprised, however, that you are just learning this now. This was made clear to us early on in middle school. I never really wanted to run cross country or play field hockey, so I didn't run into any problems with fall sports.

If I were you, I'd speak to the band director and explain your situation (that is if your child really wants to be in band - marching band by the way is MUCH more fun that regular, symphonic band IMO). You may be able to swing something re: your vacation.

The reason they are the same group is because there is overlap in what is played during the school year. They can't practice the music with 100 players during school and then only have 70 players/marchers after school and in the actual performance. Every player is needed - what if all the trumpets decided to skip marching band - how would that sound on the field?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised that to be in band class during the regular school day you have to be in marching band. I didn't realize the school could require you to participate in an after-school activity. So someone that plays football, is a cheerleader, or doesn't have after school transportation can't even take band during the day?

As a practical matter, who would march in the band if not the high school band class? Also, this all should have been well covered in the many opportunities that middle schoolers and their parents have to interact with the high school or hs counselors before August of their freshman year. The band kids I know auditioned in January of their 8th grade year for the hs band.

I would suspect that most of the marching band would be from the band class but not that being in marching band would be a requirement to be in band class. That is like saying if you take a French language class you have to be in French Club.

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised that to be in band class during the regular school day you have to be in marching band. I didn't realize the school could require you to participate in an after-school activity. So someone that plays football, is a cheerleader, or doesn't have after school transportation can't even take band during the day?

As a practical matter, who would march in the band if not the high school band class? Also, this all should have been well covered in the many opportunities that middle schoolers and their parents have to interact with the high school or hs counselors before August of their freshman year. The band kids I know auditioned in January of their 8th grade year for the hs band.

I'm surprised that to be in band class during the regular school day you have to be in marching band. I didn't realize the school could require you to participate in an after-school activity. So someone that plays football, is a cheerleader, or doesn't have after school transportation can't even take band during the day?

fyi, some coaches and band directors allow students to participate in a fall sport and marching band.

I did Marching Band in HS and it was a great experience. We went to camp, participated in marching band competitions, went to televised parades, performed at football and basketball games. It was loads of fun. I recommend a second-tier instrument for use in marching band versus the quality you might use for the symphonic portion of band, unless you are renting.

We learned this from families with older kids. Most HS sports start around the 2nd week in August. The band performs at the first home game first week in September so they have to practice.

There's no way around that. The marching/symphonic bands are highly competitive in Northern Va. It is very much like a varsity sport and I think students can letter.

And if your kids do falls sports, August practices are mandatory.

I've just learned that our local high school requires all band members to participate in marching band. All marching band members must participate in daily, all-day rehearsals during the last three weeks of August.

This is a problem for our family as we have a long-established vacation slot with extended family during August.

Is this a universal high school band requirement, or just ours? What do other families do?