| Parent's Handbook |
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| Two-way communication is critical in education. Contacting all the parents is challanging. (I send notes home and then find them in cases weeks later.) We have a communication tool which we have used with our two orchestras the last two years called "Orchestra On Line". It has made it very easy to communicate with all parents who are on the system. It is a web-log (blog) for our orchestra classes. It's an easy way for me to communicate to our parents instantly and a way for any of our parents to communicate to the Cross Orchestra community as well. Just give me your email address and let me know you'd like to be connected to "Orchestra On Line" and I'll put you into the system. |
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| When you need to contact me about a specific matter concerning your student, please feel free to call or email me at any time. I check my calls and email several times each day and will get back to you as soon as possible. My phone number at school is 696-5942 and my email address is mdemille@amphi.com. |
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| All of our instrumental performance classes have 30 or more students. Musically, the time we spend in class is to work on general skills which all students need to work on, and to work on pieces which we will be performing for you. There is very little time spent which is quality, one on one time working with your orchestra or guitar student. To maximize your son's or daughter's potential and to improve the quality of our program, I highly recommend that our students take lessons privately in addition to their performance class in school. Private lessons can focus on their individual skills and needs. See the Private Instruction page for a list of teachers in our area. |
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| One of the best sources of funding for artistic organizations such as ours is tax-credit donations by parents and other individuals in our community. Arizona law (ARS 43-1089.01) allows taxpayers to receive a tax credit of up to $200 for a single individual or a head of household and $400 for a married couple filing a joint return for donations that benefit students in our public schools. That's not just a deduction, it's a tax credit - it reduces what you owe in state taxes, dollar-for-dollar. Just send a donation earmarked for support of the Cross Middle School Orchestra or Guitar Program. Then, when you fill out your 2006 Arizona state taxes, you can subtract your donation, up to $400, from what you owe in taxes. This money helps us continue to buy instruments and provide enjoyable and educational experiences in which your child can participate. Contact the school office for forms to use to donate your tax dollars to our program. Make sure that it is made out to the Cross Middle School Orchestra, Cross Middle School Theater, or Cross Middle School Guitar Program, and the money will be available to the specific organization that will benefit your son or daughter. |
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| Funding is always an issue during the school year. We do fund-raising events during the year and ask that you participate as much as possible. All the fine-arts classes participate in a Cherrydale sale in the fall and in the spring, and we also do a bake sale in conjunction with our concerts in the MPR. If there is interest, we can offer affordable portraits of your student with their instruments, part of which will go to funding our program as well. I will be sending our notification about each of these events on the "Orchestra On Line" site as well as direct contact through your student. |
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| Parent volunteers are a key element of the success of our orchestra program. You are a vitally important part of your child's success by overseeing practice at home, encouraging them in a positive way, providing an instrument, music, transportation and your time, being a receptive audience and by showing your pride at their accomplishments. We also count on our parents to help with fundraising efforts, to chaparone our groups to festivals and on trips, to donate items for our bake sales and to do so many of the important jobs required to have a very successful year. We appreciate all you can do to help us with all the important details. |
| Practice Tips for Parents |
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* Encourage thoughtful, reflective, analytical thinking in the practice session.
* Make practice a priority--like brushing teeth! Students could practice first thing in the morning when they are fresh before going to school or when they come home before they start their schoolwork.
* Divide practice sessions into many smaller segments throughout the day rather than one big chunk. Students should practice regularly and consistently.
* Have a nice area set aside for students to practice that has a music stand, a relatively comfortable armless chair at the correct height, good lighting, pencil, eraser, tuner, and metronome.
* Be a motivator. Avoid being discouraging about how students sound when practicing.
* Provide incentives to reward consistent and careful practice, such as CD's, concert tickets, and so forth.
* Communicate with the teacher to be sure practice assignments are clear.
* Leave the instrument out at home if it helps to get the student to practice. |
