Important Information!
Welcome to the 2019-2020 Daniell orchestra program! We are so excited to have your students join our family or return if you have been with us in years past. There’s a few things you will need to get started:
Firstly, please visit https://www.daniellorchestra.org/supply-lists/ and print or view your child’s specific supply needs. The book is very important and should be a priority in all grades, in addition to the instrument itself. Students should bring their book to class every single day. Only violins and violas take instruments to and from school. Cellos and basses keep theirs at home until concert time or if they need to bring it in for tuning etc. Same goes for music stands. They should only use them to practice at home with and to bring to concerts that are held at DMS.
Next, please visit https://www.daniellorchestra.org/polo-uniform-order-forms/ to enter sizing information for your child’s uniform (7 & 8) or sixth grade performing arts shirt. They will wear this uniform to every orchestra, band or chorus event. 6th grade will also have “spirit days” in which they are asked to wear their shirts to school. These are the SAME shirts and uniforms used in band and chorus, so no child needs to order more than one uniform.
Calendar!
The complete calendar for chorus, band and orchestra is listed here on our website. Simply scroll through the months to see upcoming fundraisers, deadlines and concerts. PLEASE make note of them now, because absences are rarely excused. Concerts are a summative assessment of skills that students have been learning in class.
Charms – 6, 7 & 8th Grade!
Charms has returned! For those of you familiar with Charms, you already know how important this app/website is to our program. I truly believe that by having students work towards weekly goals AND by receiving individual feedback, our orchestra program gets stronger and stronger than ever before.
If you don’t know what Charmsoffice.com is, it is a music program management software that most every music program in the county (and state) uses. The only part that you will really interact with is the assignments portion.
When you arrive at the website, enter the school code danielljackets into the box. Then, your password is your child’s lunch number. DO NOT change the password! Even when it asks you to do so, just navigate away into the main menu and ignore it. Forgotten passwords are all too common and only I can reset them. I humbly ask you, PLEASE, leave them as their lunch numbers!!!!
Inside of Charms, the website or the app called Charms Blue, you will see your child’s assignments, any signed forms that are due, etc. If your info is incorrect, it was pulled directly from the school database, so once you update it in Charms you may want to update it with Daniell, too.
Recording studio will list your child’s weekly assignment. They simply practice during the week at home, click on record, SAVE the recording and then wait for my feedback on their individual recordings. Grades go into synergy and then we move on to the next playing test. These are required and weekly, so if you see a zero, the only explanation is that a child forgot to do it.
Please visit https://www.daniellorchestra.org/charms/ for a list of assignments that I will update by unit. Changes are always possible, but I try very hard to stick to the schedule. It is up to the students to make sure that they practice and submit on time so that we stay on par with our goals!
****6th grade will not have a playing test scheduled until I know for a fact that they are ready to do so. It may take some time, but rest assured that I will give them plenty of notice.
DISNEY!
Please be on the lookout for Disney deadlines! We will be handing out our Disney commitment forms once we have all of our surveys in and our plans set with the travel company. Once 8th graders receive their Disney paperwork, they should complete it and bring it to the front office (NOT to me!). Our book keeper then signs it, assigns it a number, and takes the deposit. Disney is first come, first served, so don’t wait until the due date! Students bring them back as early as the next morning, ready to go!
Chaperone information comes out later than the student information. We will make an announcement when that will happen.
Lastly, please look at our calendar tab and note the mandatory student/parent meeting before the trip.
Allstate
Any 7th or 8th graders who are auditioning for allstate signed up in class, but they will need to turn in their $25 registration fee by 9/10 in order to get an audition slot. This is a statewide fee, so if a student does not pay, a student will not get an audition. Please see our calendar for dates and please see gmea.org for audition details.
Chamber Orchestra
Chamber auditions must be submitted via charms by August 30th. Please visit https://www.daniellorchestra.org/chamber-orchestra/ for audition music. Rehearsals start October 1st, Tuesday & Thursday mornings 8-8:50.
My blog posts aren’t always this long, but I will always keep the lines of communication open with you even if there’s lots of info. Please feel free to reach out to me via email any time throughout the year. 🙂
-Mrs. Newton