Certainly. Our district decided 3 years ago to implement the change towards mandatory band. They then ponied up the money to ensure that all students 6th-8th can have a good school-owned instrument. We have very few who actually own their own. This makes it difficult with repairs having to go through us and the parents not being responsible unless there’s intentional damage (very rare, but has happened!)

We test them all in May of their 5th grade year and check out instruments around Labor Day after a steady diet of note naming, rhythm, etc (see Teaching Rhythm Logically). Our elementary music teacher has done amazing work turning 5th grade into “pre-band.” She introduces our counting system, note naming in both treble and bass clef, and works with embouchure formation. We try our best to accommodate their “top 3 choices,” but as I’ve explained to them and the parents, we put them where we think they will succeed the soonest. Very little pushback. Our district provides beginner books for every student, every year. Our classes are all homogeneous with the exception of low brass. With 2 directors, we have had to get pretty creative with the schedule to make that possible, but it works. Our 6th grade class averages about 75 kids total each year. So even though I’m extremely pleased to have 80 kids in my 7th/8th band, the retention could be better. For comparison, I had 28 7th and 8th graders in the 2021-22 school year, the year before we started required 6th grade band.

It can be challenging when band turns from elective to required, but we have kept so many kids in 7th and 8th grade that would’ve never tried band had it not been required of them in 6th. It also still gets to be the fun class with end of the year festivals, parent performances, etc. We are very blessed with lots of district support. Hope this helps!