Welcome Back!

Hello Tupper Musicians! A September like no other is upon us. The good news is, we will be able to make music again this year.

Read below for a message to parents that will be sent out for more information about off-timetables. I will be emailing you before the end of Saturday, September 12th with details on WHICH day after school is your off-timetable rehearsal day.

I can't wait to see you all again! I've missed you and making music with you a ton.

Hello Tupper Music Parents!

This year is one of change, and that includes Tupper Music as well.

I am VERY glad to be able to say that there WILL be band and choir and guitar classes, and we have been ok’d by the BCCDC and the VSB to use instruments and sing.

If you are a parent of a student in Beginning Band, Intermediate Band, Choir 8 (which is part of the Fine Arts 8 rotation), or Guitar, your children’s classes will not begin until the second quarter or later and will run for 10 weeks each. The information below will broadly apply to your kids, but you can expect some communication from myself or our Guitar teacher Mrs. Baron later in the year to give you more details specific to those course.

If you are a parent of a student in Advanced Band, Concert Choir, or Jazz Band, these courses will be running all year off-timetable. I will be giving out more detailed information to students when we meet next week, but in a nutshell the guidelines we will be following have been compiled by the British Columbia Music Educator’s association and have been approved by the BCCDC and VSB. They are based on the findings of numerous scientific studies that have been performed in Europe and North America over the past 5 months to show how music can be done in a way that makes the level of risk no greater than that associated with any other class within the school.

All band and choir classes:

• will require the use of masks in the classroom

• will have students spaced AT LEAST 2 meters apart from each other, side to side and front to back

• will mostly run in the band room which is much larger than a regular classroom, but one of the choirs will be running in the auditorium to benefit from the added space

• will have no more than 30 minutes of playing or singing at a time before we clear the room and allow for an exchange of air

Our guitar classes:

• will have students spaced AT LEAST 2 meters apart from each other side to side and front to back

• will have individual guitars signed out to students to avoid the need to share instruments

Our off-timetable classes (Advanced Band, Concert Choir, and Jazz Band) will be running after school this year. Advanced Band and Choir will be split in half to reduce numbers in order to keep 2 meters between all participants, and each half will meet in person ONCE per week, and supplemented with instruction online.

Monday – Advanced Band A

Tuesday – Concert Choir A

Wednesday – Advanced Band B

Thursday – Concert Choir B

Friday – Jazz Band (this group is small enough to safely meet as one group)

If your child is in an off-timetable course, please keep your eye open for an email from me before the end of the day on Saturday September 12th letting you know which day they will need to attend. Instruments are NOT needed next week, as our meeting will be focused on more detailed health and safety guidelines beyond what I’ve written above.

I want to stress that myself and Mrs. Baron are doing everything we can to ensure that your child’s experience in music this year will be as safe as it can be. The benefits that flow from music are enormous, and while we will have to do things differently this year, it is so meaningful that we CAN make music together at Tupper again.

If you have any questions for us based on what I’ve written above, or, once you receive more detailed information that I’ll send home with the kids next week, please don’t hesitate to email mcavaletto@vsb.bc.ca for band/choir, or tAbaron@vsb.bc.ca for guitar.

Many thanks for your continued support of Tupper Music!

Sincerely,

Mike Cavaletto and Tanya Baron