Green PEP Band play this Thursday, January 24, at the Girls Basketball game vs. Grant HS. Arrive in the Band Room by 6:00 pm and expect the game to go until 8:45 pm.

Please consider accompanying the Cleveland HS Wind Ensemble to Eugene, Oregon for the day on Saturday, January 18th. Two chaperones are needed to ride with Wind Ensemble to their 1:00pm performance in Eugene. A charter bus has been reserved for this trip. Chaperones will meet the band at Cleveland on January 18th at 8:00am and are expected to return to Portland around 5:30pm.

Thank you for giving your time to support the band!

Here is the sign up sheet.

I was notified on Monday that it is my responsibility to provide transportation to all of our All-State students from their rehearsal spaces to our concert performance at the Hult Center and then back to their rehearsals.

I am hopeful that 5-6 parents may be coming to Eugene to enjoy our concert on Saturday, January 18. If so, please contact me ASAP so we can develop a transportation plan for our All-State members.

I appreciate you all!!
Gary

We are excited to host our middle school feeders at our upcoming concert this Tuesday @ 7pm
Concert Band and Wind Ensemble will also be performing at this concert.

Wind Ensemble will be providing a preview concert of what they will be playing on Saturday at the OMEA State Music Educators Conference.

Included in the set is a piece that will be performed in honor of our beloved staff member that we lost this last fall – Casey Dyer.

Color Guard rehearsals will begin on January 21 after school for our Disney Trip.

These students know who they are, and are very excited to get started.

Their rehearsal dates and times are on the band calendar.

Our Wind Ensemble retreat later this month on January 28th is a non-school day. The entire ensemble is expected to attend, as we are paying a clinician to come work with us for an extended period of time. We will also have section coaches coming for the first hour. Our clinician is a retired band director from Pacific Lutheran University – Ed Powell. He is a fabulous musician and educator, and I am excited to have him share his expertise and passion with all of us.

Monday morning Mr. Riler sent out the following notice:

• Good morning,
  I just received information from someone that I trust that the modernization cuts will largely be covered by reverting to old Ed-Specs.  Older Ed-Specs include the elimination of a choir space and a reduction in all performing arts spaces when compared to current Ed-Specs.Cleveland should have quality spaces equal to those at other schools.  The band, choir and theatre spaces at the new Cleveland HS should reflect the incredible work that is currently happening in these programs.

  I am out of words.

  If you have any, feel free to consider emailing our board member(s).

At this point the best thing we can do as stakeholders in the Cleveland HS Band program is to let the PPS Board know we want to keep these spaces reserved for performing arts in our school. Please consider emailing the PPS board members to let them know this. Responding in volume is important.

Below is a list of email addresses of PPS board members you can copy and paste into the “To:” field of an email, a subject line and body of an email you are welcome to use for this purpose. Review it, sign and send it if you agree with it.

Thank you,

The Friend of Cleveland Bands Board.

To: Michelle DePass <mdepass@pps.net>, <Hermangreene@pps.net>, Julia Brim-Edwards <jbrim-edwards@pps.net>, EddieWang@pps.net <EddieWang@pps.net>, psullivan@pps.net <psullivan@pps.net>, jkunsevi@pps.net <jkunsevi@pps.net>, Andrew Scott <anscott@pps.net>, Gary Hollands <ghollands@pps.net>, jkunsevi@pps.net (right-click to copy all email addresses) Subject: Maintaining Dedicated Performing Arts Spaces in Cleveland High School Modernization Body: Dear Portland Public Schools Board of Directors, I am writing as a concerned parent of Cleveland High School band students regarding the upcoming school modernization project. We have learned that, due to budget constraints, there are discussions about potentially eliminating or combining dedicated spaces for band, theater, and choir programs. As engaged stakeholders in our children’s education, we strongly advocate for maintaining separate, dedicated spaces for each of these vital performing arts programs. Modernization projects at Lincoln, McDaniel and Grant  included separate spaces for band, theater, and choir programs. Other designs like Benson, Franklin and Roosevelt failed to do this, creating “shared” spaces and/or eliminating the preferred option of a choral space.  Cleveland High School, which offers band, choir & theatre classes needs the appropriate educational opportunities and facilities for their students. Providing anything less would create an inequitable distribution of resources within PPS. The practical requirements for each performing arts discipline are distinct and specialized: – Band programs require specific acoustic treatments and secure storage for valuable instruments – Theater programs need open space for movement and technical equipment for productions – Choir programs require appropriate acoustics and tiered risers for proper vocal projection Combining these spaces would severely impact the quality and capacity of each program. Schedule conflicts would force programs to reduce class offerings, limiting student participation and potentially contributing to program decline. The long-term consequences could significantly diminish Cleveland’s robust performing arts culture. Cleveland’s performing arts programs have consistently demonstrated their value to our school community: – Our band program regularly participates in state competitions and community events – Theater productions engage hundreds of students annually, both on stage and behind the scenes – The choir program provides essential music education and performance opportunities – These programs consistently contribute to student engagement and academic success We understand the challenges of budget constraints. However, we believe that maintaining dedicated spaces for performing arts is not just an amenity—it’s an essential investment in our students’ education and development. The performing arts develop crucial skills including creativity, collaboration, discipline, and public speaking, which are valuable across all academic areas and future careers.  In 2020 the Cleveland HS was awarded the National Federation of High Schools “School of Excellence” Award for Performing Arts.  Only one school in the country receives this award each year.  In addition, Cleveland HS was the 1st urban school to receive the award.  The Cleveland High School band program specifically has won numerous awards including recently being recognized in 2024 as a Division Winner of the Programs of Excellence Blue Ribbon Award by the National Band Association. We respectfully request that the Board: 1. Maintain three separate, dedicated spaces for band, theater, and choir in the Cleveland modernization plans 2. Ensure these spaces meet current educational standards and program needs 3. Consider the long-term impact on educational equity within PPS 4. Share detailed plans for performing arts spaces with the Cleveland community for input Thank you for your consideration of this crucial issue. Sincerely, [sign with your name]

It turns out there was some miscommunication regarding the pep band dates this coming week.  Due to a very busy performance schedule these next few weeks, I determined that it would be best to cancel any pep band with the short notice of date changes.

The Monday and Wednesday scheduled games have been taken off of the calendar.  We will have each band play three games this year instead of four.

The next scheduled game will be the GREEN band on January 24th.

Mr. R.

Please consider accompanying the Cleveland HS Wind Ensemble to Eugene, Oregon for the day on Saturday, January 18th. The Wind Ensemble was invited to perform at a 1:00pm concert at the Hult Center Soren Auditorium. Two chaperones are needed to meet the bus on 1/18 at 8:00am at Cleveland High School, ride the bus down to Eugene with the students, attend the concert, and ride the bus home with an expected 5:30pm arrival time back in Portland. Thank you for giving your time to support the band!

Here is the sign up sheet.

The Cleveland HS Warrior Marching Band has officially been invited to perform in the 2025 Rose Festival Starlight Parade on Saturday, May 31, 2025.