November Newsletter
Posted 11.22.09 – State of Michigan Education Funding/PPS Cuts: As many of you have been hearing from Lansing, the K-12 funding for education has been cut for this year and substantially cut for 2010-11. Portage is having to cut $2.5-$3 million by second semester and $5.6-$6 million for 2010-11. This is a devastating scenario that we all must take seriously and realize that it will dramatically affect all academic areas, co-curricular and extra-curricular offerings as well as the loss of many, many teaching positions. More specific information as it becomes available.

Open House Rehearsals
Posted 10.25.09 – The Legends Indoor Ensemble is in its 10th season. This program is for brass and percussion students and is designed to give 8th through 12th grade students the opportunity to perform challenging and exciting, original arrangements, and to receive top level instruction from some of the areas finest brass and percussion instructors.
October 27 Newsletter
Posted 10.25.09 – Final Transition: This week will be the transition into Concert & Symphonic Bands. We will finish auditions Monday night and take care of all the make ups (due to flu) on Tuesday. Hopefully, we will be able to meet in the two bands on Wednesday or Thursday. We also have to repack most of the Marching Band equipment/carts/scaffolding etc….and take most of it back to the Stable for winter storage.

2nd Annual Marching Band Season Wrap-Up
Posted 10.17.09 – We would like to get an idea of who is coming, so we can plan ahead for both the family and student portions of the evening, so please fill out and return this bottom portion or email us by Friday October 23rd! Thanks! Hope to see everyone there!
East Kentwood Invitational Weekend!
Posted 10.17.09 – What a weekend at Grandville & Lakeshore….it turned out to be a fight to the finish! Can’t say enough about how exciting and energized both performances were this weekend and how well the kids responded to the challenge in especially cold and windy conditions. Special thanks to the “Prop Pops” who all held the Grids secure thru both shows. We shared captions, but the deciding factor as it has been all season, is in our high Marching and Music scores.
East Kentwood Invitational Weekend!
Posted 10.10.09 – What a weekend at Grandville & Lakeshore….it turned out to be a fight to the finish! Can’t say enough about how exciting and energized both performances were this weekend and how well the kids responded to the challenge in especially cold and windy conditions. Special thanks to the “Prop Pops” who all held the Grids secure thru both shows. We shared captions, but the deciding factor as it has been all season, is in our high Marching and Music scores.

Legends Winter Guard
Posted 10.10.09 – Become a member of the Legends Winter Guard! from Kalamazoo, Michigan
Open House Information
Posted 09.22.09 – Central Site Program Overview: We at the Portage Central campus are very proud of our band program. At CMS, we enroll over 323 (148 6th; 100 7th and 75 8th) students in band. Here, our program includes 150 students and is known and respected at the state, national and international level for musical excellence. The high school program includes your Freshman Band, Symphonic & Concert Bands, Jazz band, “Legends” Winter Brass & Percussion Ensemble and Marching Band just to name a few! We have something for everyone!

September 22 Quick News
Posted 09.22.09 – SBC Global: Still having a rough time with group emails being returned from sbc-global email accounts. Always check the website www.portagecentralhsband.org for info or send us an email and we will forward you the info.

Kenowa Hills
Posted 09.22.09 – GRIDLOCK! We think the show is finally starting to click….and just in time to get ready for our first competition! We have a huge part of the closer on the field and will decide how much we will prepare for Kenowa…..we have several options.
September Newsletter
Posted 09.22.09 – Thoughts: Amazing kids, amazing show, amazing staff, amazing parent help! As we head into the competition season, we will be ready! The work ethic to be able to tackle this program has been inspiring to say the least!

First Day Information/Syllabus
Posted 09.07.09 – Marching Band/Seminar/Concert & Symphonic Bands

Marching Band MP3 files
Posted 08.30.09 –

Song for Lyndsay

Symphony No. 4

Pre-Camp: Going very well at our new home here at West Middle School. This is a great way to start the process of building and developing our “Gridlock” show and the teamwork needed to be successful!

Gridlock - Segment 1 TS.mp3 (1945KB)
2009-10 Yearlong Band Registration Form
Posted 07.25.09 – The Band Booster Executive Board met in June & July and continued refining the fee structure for all families and were able to keep fees the same as years past. We have a fee structure for Marching Band & Non-Marching Band students. Remember that most other marching bands travel away for band camp at a huge cost of $300-$500 per person to cover camp expenses. We’d rather spend our monies on the fall show, music arrangements, staff & equipment, music coaches and clinicians throughout the entire school year.

Marching Band Pre-Camp/Camp Newsletter
Posted 07.25.09 – “Gridlock” is a show that will feature three distinctly diverse and innovative wind band compositions. Works being arranged by Ibe are the following: “Tempered Steel” (Young), “Song for Lindsay” (Boysen), and Symphony No. 4 by Andrew Boysen. The two works by Andrew Boysen have just been released and will be very new and fresh to the marching band idiom.