Message from our Superintendent, Dr. Mark Albertus (3/14/20)

Dear Parents/Guardians & Community,

I want to take this opportunity to provide an update on our recent announcement to close schools amid the spread of the coronavirus in our state and beyond. The decision to close came after much deliberation and advice from state officials and health experts.

In the past month, many countries have experienced high numbers of COVID-19 confirmed cases and fatalities. The knowledge gained from these countries has allowed us to be proactive now so that we minimize the impact on our schools, businesses, and the entire community moving forward.

Although our youth are not as vulnerable to this virus as the elderly population, large groups and gatherings pose a high risk of virus transmission. We must all do our part to protect our community of all ages.

By closing schools, we allow for social distancing in order to slow the spread of this virus. I encourage all of you to be diligent in protecting yourself and your families by limiting close contact with others and practicing good health & hygiene as recommended by health experts.

Our teachers and staff have worked diligently to provide At-Home Learning packets to our students for the next two weeks. They will be in close contact with students and parents to answer questions and ensure students are learning at home during this time. AT-HOME LEARNING PLAN

We also will be delivering breakfast and lunch meals Monday through Friday at the 13 summer feeding locations around town in order to meet student needs and are coordinating with others for weekend food options to ensure our students do not go hungry. SCHOOL CLOSURE FEEDING PLAN

We are committed to keeping you informed and will be providing daily updates via text and email through our school communication system and on our website and social media platforms. Please check these regularly for any new information.

I want to thank you for your patience and support of our schools and the decisions that we must make to keep our students and community safe. I know we will persevere during this time and end the year strong. COVID-19 INFO UPDATES
Stay well and Go Trojans.
Sincerely,

Dr. Mark Albertus
Superintendent

SCHOOL CLOSURE FEEDING PLAN

Carrollton City Schools will provide meals for students free of charge during the duration of the school closure period. Students may pick up lunches at designated stops Monday through Friday from 11:00 to 11:45 a.m.  When students pick up a lunch, they also may take home a breakfast meal for the next day.

Las escuelas de la ciudad de Carrollton proporcionarán comidas a los estudiantes de forma gratuita durante el período de cierre de la escuela. Los estudiantes pueden recoger almuerzos en las paradas designadas de lunes a viernes de 11:00 a 11:45 a.m. Cuando los estudiantes recogen un almuerzo, también pueden llevar a casa una comida de desayuno para el día siguiente.

FEEDING SITES

The school closing is a needed precautionary measure to aide our community in overcoming the pandemic more expeditiously. As you are all aware our annual LGPE concert’s were scheduled for next week. They have been cancelled as have the remainder of our Winter Guard performances. Our goal is to return to school on March 30, 2020 and continue with the remainder of the year for our students. We plan on finding a date to perform our Winter Guard show for our community, but do not intend on rescheduling the LGPE performance. I am extremely proud of the extraordinary efforts by our students in preparing our LGPE performance and the growth gained through the preparation is still worth celebrating even if we did not have the opportunity to give the final performance this time. I am proud of our students’ resilience in this time of uncertainty. We will get through this together and be stronger as a society for it!

At Home Learning Plan for Band

We have set up virtual classrooms for all of our students to allow us to administer our classes online while we are practicing social distancing these next couple of weeks:

Google Classroom Codes

• vaai2qh  – Wind Ensemble (Mastery Band) – 1st Block
• qida47c – IB Music – 1st Block
• wqewcxs – Concert Band (Intermediate Band) – 2nd Block
• ybfbba4 – Symphonic Band (Advanced Band) – 2nd Block
• zczilkg – Color Guard Class (Begin Band and Auxiliary) – 4th Block

Staff will communicate daily assignments to our band students via the appropriate Google Classroom site. Students have the ability to receive updates from us, submit questions, and submit work via Google Classroom. The main focus for our wind and percussion students will be setting and working towards personal practice goals while documenting progress via a practice journal. Band auditions are currently scheduled for Thursday, April 2, 2020, which is the week that we will officially return to school.

Although students may access and complete their assignments at anytime, we hope that they will utilize “normal class time,” as it will help them maintain a semblance of routine and assure that they have plenty of time to complete assignments without it snowballing due to procrastination.

More information concerning band auditions can be found by following the link above.

Colorguard assignments will be used to prepare students for their final performance project, which counts as their final exam in our class. Other assignments will be used to continue to develop better understanding of design elements, choreography vocabulary, and to practice techniques to strengthen personal performance abilities.

Help A Fellow Trojan Band Family

One of our Band Families suffered a house fire on February 16, 2020. Metro West Realty has sent up a fund that you can donate to help this family if you are able. More information can be found here to make a gift. Thank you for making our community an amazing place to raise children through your generosity.

Trojan Band Student to Undergo Chemotherapy

We learned last week that one of our students is currently battling cancer. He underwent surgery to remove the cancer and has been visiting for scans to ensure that everything was removed. Tests determined that he is currently battling Stage 2 cancer and will commence chemotherapy treatments this week. Please pray for junior clarinet player, Bryan Perez-Ramos. If you haven’t met Bryan it is because he is a quiet leader who consistently sets the example by giving his best efforts on and off the field, assisting team mates prepare for concerts/auditions, encouraging friends to do the right thing, and very respectful student. He asked me to share this info with everyone in hopes that families will continue to keep him in their thoughts and prayers during this challenging time. His parents are working diligently to get him the care that he needs. We are very fortunate to have a loving and supportive community who invests in one another daily. Thank you for loving one another and caring so deeply about all of our Trojan families.

Liberty Tour 2021 Trip Details

Visit our Liberty Tour Page for more information regarding next year’s band trip to Philadelphia and Washington DC.

The $50 non-refundable/non-transferable deposit is due by April 1, 2020 to secure your spot on the trip. You can pay online here.

If you prefer to make your payments by check or cash, Booster Board representatives will be in the Band Room on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday March 30 – April 1 from (7:30AM – 9AM) to collect those payments when school is back in session.

Band Banquet – April 27 – Sign Up Now

You can now sign up for the Band Banquet. We ask that you sign up so we know how many people to plan for. You can sign up by clicking here. Also you can pay for your ticket(s) using RevTrak. You will need to pay for your student’s meall. You can click here to pay online (you will also need to pay the service fee). If you pay for your meals prior to April 3 it is $14 per person. After April 3, it will be $15 per person. If you prefer to pay by cash or check, Booster Board representatives will be in the Band Room on Monday and Friday mornings (7:30AM – 9AM) to collect those payments when school is back in session. We need to have everyone signed up and paid by April 20 as we will need to place our order with Longhorn. If you would like to attend the awards ceremony and not have dinner, the awards ceremony will begin around 7PM that night.

SAVE THE DATE – Band BBQ – May 7

The Band BBQ is one of two major fundraisers that help the Boosters to continue to do all of the great things to support our students and our band program. Due to the adjustment of the school schedule, we may forego the kickoff meeting and send the tickets and information home with your student. We will send out a Remind and an email when they are sent home.

Also, please don’t forget to vote for your favorite Band BBQ video here:

Shop at Amazon? You Can Help the Boosters

Do you shop on Amazon often? Did you know that you can help the Band Boosters when you shop on Amazon? Go to smile.amazon.com and then select Carrollton Band Booster Club, Inc. for the charitable organization you want to support.