It’s that time of year again when kids sign up for elective classes for next year, and it can be hard to navigate all of the things you need to do to communicate with the middle school teachers, students, parents, administrators, counselors, and others who are involved in the scheduling process.
If you forget a step, if students or parents aren’t clear about what to do, or if you don’t have a plan at all, then kids who should be in your program will fall through the cracks and you won’t get to have them in your band. That defeats the purpose of building a music program!
Students have lots of choices when it comes to the classes they are going to take. They will have opportunities to hear about your program from their current teachers, friends, family members, you, and in lots of other ways. Your program has a reputation that can go a long way in influencing their decision as to whether or not to sign up for band.
But ultimately kids need to know what you offer, how they can sign up, what the appropriate class is for them to sign up for, and how they can be a part of your program. The easier you can make it for them to understand what you have to offer and what they need to do to register for the correct ensemble, the more likely you are to have a robust program with the numbers you desire.
Clear communication is key to helping everyone navigate this process seamlessly and with the best results. After all, isn’t everyone going to be happiest when students are in the level-appropriate classes with good instrumentation? So why not build that in starting NOW so that when school starts in the fall, you have all your kiddos in the right place and you can hit the ground running!?
In my 32 years as a high school band director, I’ve learned a few things about what does and doesn’t work in terms of recruiting. This year I’ve put together a 10-minute video that will be shared with incoming students. The video, along with a short letter to parents, gives everyone the information they need to make the best decision about which class is right for them as the next step in their musical journey.
You don’t need to reinvent anything. If what you’ve been doing isn’t getting you the results you want, give this a try. Feel free to steal any of the ideas and try them with your students and see what happens.
I’ve been fortunate to have lots of great mentors who shared their tools with me in the past, so it’s my turn to pay-it-forward with this resource.
If you’d like me to email you a copy of the letter I send to parents of incoming ninth graders, shoot me an email with “Recruiting Letter” in the subject line and I’ll send you my document which you can edit and reuse yourself.
Let me know how it goes!
Lesley