Dear Parents, Guardians, and Students,
After meeting with the ELBOPA board, ELHS Administration, Superintendent Dori Leyko and School Board President Erin Graham, we have unanimously decided to cancel the Disney trip scheduled for May 2021. With the current upward trends of Covid-19 in the United States and especially Florida, we do not feel comfortable asking you to commit time and money to this trip. We have no guarantee that this trip would happen in May. We have confirmed our cancelation with BrightSpark Travel. Anyone who has already registered for this trip will receive a full refund. Here is the explanation on how and when to expect the refund from BrightSpark: “Refunds will be sent back to the parents in the same manner that they paid us – either on their credit card or by check. We are processing refunds for our spring trips still so realistically, your refunds will be processed at the end of September.” BrightSpark will keep our trip on file and we will hopefully be able to travel in the 2021-2022 school year. We understand that this is an unfortunate circumstance for this year’s seniors. However, safety comes first. If things start to head in a more positive direction, we can look at doing something special for our seniors before the end of the year. As always, we thank you for your continued support of the instrumental music program and our students, especially in these current times. We are looking forward to the start of the school year. Sincerely, Mr. Rosin Mr. Larzelere
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We have received several questions regarding the future of Disney trip and the upcoming registration deadline so we wanted to send a quick email with a few thoughts regarding the trip. As of now, we are still planning to take the trip in Feb of 2021 and the deadline for signing up is tomorrow, March 27th. If you are on the fence of about signing up or have forgotten about the deadline, here are some thoughts:
-We highly recommend that ALL travelers purchase the RGP Trip Insurance. If for some reason the trip is cancelled or you don’t feel comfortable sending your student next year, all money will be refunded (less the $109 to purchase the insurance). -You can actually miss this deadline and still sign-up for the trip at a later date. However, the cost to register must reflect the current payment schedule at that time. For example, if you waited until June 26th (due date for the 3rd Installment) you would be responsible for paying the down payment ($110), the 2nd Installment ($207), and the 3rd Installment ($207), plus the RGP to register for the trip. -Again, you have several more weeks to make the down payment and sign-up for the trip and get insurance. After May 15th, you will need include the 2nd installment as well. -At this point, the number of students that have signed-up for the trip will make it difficult to travel. We will certainly leave the option open for several more months in hopes that things settle down and we return to some sense of normalcy before making any decisions as to the future of the trip. Understandably this is NOT a priority for many people right now, we just wanted to communicate as we have received questions. We hope this finds you well and we look forward to seeing our students and making music as soon as possible! Be well, Mr. Larzelere and Mr. Rosin Hello Everyone,
Orchestra Clinics: Yesterday we had a great clinic with Mrs. Ingrid Dykeman. She worked with the 7th and 8th grade orchestras. Mrs. Dykeman is a retired Kentwood orchestra teacher, MSBOA Orchestra Teacher of the Year, and current Hope College Music Education coordinator. She was also Mrs. Vanator’s middle school orchestra teacher:) Chicago: Open seats are available: We still have about 15 open spots for the Chicago trip. If you or your student are interested in attending, please go to this link to register. WWW.CTSCENTRAL.NET/MACDONALD-IL Chicago and Covid-19 questions: We have been receiving some questions regarding our Chicago trip and the current Covid-19 situation. At this time we are still planning on taking the trip. Here is the statement from our travel company regarding Covid-19: On behalf of Classic Performances at Corporate Travel, we are addressing all groups in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak. We have taken proactive measures to address all of our groups pertaining to their upcoming tours. We have implemented a team internally to continually monitor the situation minute by minute, and a risk management plan, which means we are tracking to monitor and advise groups according to their departing destination and departure dates. We take our client and passenger concerns very seriously and will address all questions. We are monitoring it constantly to keep you informed, and should we need to make any revisions for anyone’s travel plans. Please refer to our group leader letter attached for our groups management plan. Everything we do is safety first. Currently, there is no identifiable risk going on your trip to Chicago as of today, and we have not been advised of any additional risk to travel domestically as of today. Now, there is a personal decision that passengers can make early on if they wish of course, and if they purchased the cancellation insurance they can refer to the policy and make a personal choice based on the terms by Travel Insured. Individuals should refer to the cancellation policy in place should they decide to cancel early: From 02/09/20 to 03/09/20 $230.00 penalty per seat, and 60 days or less No Refund. If they did purchase the insurance, we will apply the penalty and they would submit a claim, and again the insurance company would determine reimbursement if the reason is under the policy. Regarding the entire group trip: It would not be helpful to make any changes for the entire group’s plans this far out, since there is no risk as you are just over 60 days out and your next payment isn’t due until April 8. Our suggestion would be that we continue to monitor the situation, as we are very closely, and continually be in communication about the situation as your next payment date of April 8 nears. We hope to know much more as a public by then also. Certainly, this is a situation that is unknown and could turn, which is why it is being monitored closely and will require sooner action if that happens. Also, PLEASE look at our website FAQ’s that we have posted regarding the COVID-19 situation, we encourage you to share it with families as well: https://www.ctscentral.net/faq/covid-19/ Chicago Chaperones: We will be sending an email soon about a pre-trip chaperone meeting and coordinating chaperone room assignments. Upcoming Dates: March 9: Orlando (Disney) trip informational meeting, for 2020-2021 HS Orchestra and Band students 9th-12th grade @7:00pm in HS Auditorium March 25: STRINGcredible Concert featuring award winning Scottish Fiddler, Meredith Hopikins The concert will feature our 6th grade orchestra, Ovation Strings, and Encore Strings. 7:00pm @MMS April 28: Pre-Chicago Concert 7:00 @MMS May 26: Ovation performs at State Capital - during day- details to follow May 27: Spring Concert- 6th. 7th, and 8th grade orchestras. 7:00pm @High School Thank you for your continued support of the orchestra program, Mrs. Vanator Mr. Rosin Hello Everyone,
By now you have probably heard that our high school orchestra and band trip to Orlando has been approved by the school board. Here are a few details: Who: Any HS orchestra students in the 2020-2021 school year When: Feb 11-16, 2021 Cost: $1145 per student Payment Schedule: March 27(registration), May 15, June 26, Aug 14, Oct 9, Dec 11 Trip highlights include: 3 nights in Hotel All Meals covered (except the morning we leave) 4 full Days in Disney Parks with Park Hopper ticket Evening in Disney Springs with dinner at Planet Hollywood Marching Band marches in Magic Kingdom parade Orchestra perform at Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney) Band and Orchestra participate in Disney’s You’re Instrumental Workshop We will be holding an optional parent informational meeting on Monday, March 9th at 7:00pm in the HS auditorium. Registration will open sometime next week. You will be able to find all information regarding this trip at this link: http://elbopa.weebly.com/high-school-orlando-disney-2021.html (note: more information will be added after the parent meeting) As always this trip is optional and all students in the orchestra program will get a chance to learn and perform the music. Furthermore, ELBOPA is currently working on a fundraising plan for students to help with the cost of the trip. Thank you, David Rosin Hello Everyone, I just wanted to send a general update of everything happening in the next couple of months. Feb 20th High School Orchestra and Band Pre-festival concert- You only need to be there for your ensembles 30min portion of the concert. Here is the order: 6:15- Symphonic Orchestra 6:45- Concert Band 7:15- Encore Strings 7:45- Symphonic Band 8:15- Chamber Orchestra 8:45- Wind Ensemble Feb 23rd Mattress Fundraiser 11-4 (optional) (information is attached below) The main goal here is to just get the word out about this sale. We have fliers for the students to pass out if they want to participate. If someone buys a mattress using a coupon with your name on it, your will get $50 towards your student account for future trips or camps. Feb 28- MSBOA Festival for High School Orchestras @ELHS: Schedule 8:00am - Symphonic Orchestra 10:30am- Chamber Orchestra 1:25pm - Encore Strings Students will need to bring their uniforms to school that day. March 14- MSBOA State Solo and Ensemble @ ELHS (registered students only) March 25th 6th Grade Orchestra, Ovation Strings, Encore Strings with National Scottish Champion Meredith Hopkins @MMS @7:00pm April 23rd- Senior Solo Recital @ELHS beginning at 6:30pm Encore Strings and Symphonic Orchestra will be accompanying many of the soloists. This is going to be a long concert, that is why we are starting at 6:30pm. There will be an intermission. Thank you for you continued support of the orchestra program in East Lansing, Mr. Rosin May 15, 7:00pm @ East Lansing High School - 6th-8th Grade orchestras spring concert. This will be our final evening performance of the year for the MS orchestras. 7th and 8th grade students should turn in their tux shirts immediately following the performance. Please bring a shirt to change into after the concert. Call time for this concert is 6PM. 7th and 8th grade students report to the HS orchestra room, 6th grade to the HS band room. We will have a quick combined rehearsal on stage with everyone around 6:20pm. Doors to the auditorium will open around 6:40pm.
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