Attire closet open tomorrow

Just wanted to remind you that Boosters will be at HRHS tomorrow 8/26 from 5:30-9 p.m. We will be in the Orchestra room helping families find pre-owned attire for the upcoming year.  This is an awesome opportunity to save money if your student needs new attire; we still have lots of tuxes and some dresses.

Reminder:  Your returning student only needs new attire if their current dress or tux doesn't fit any longer or if they are changing from Overture/Symphony to Chamber this year.  All new students need to find pre-owned attire or take measurements for new attire.  These measurements are due to Mrs. Jonas by Friday, Sept. 6.

If you need to turn in used attire, you may bring it to the Orchestra room tomorrow night as well.  Please let us know as soon as possible if you have attire to turn in.  There are still quite a few families we have not heard from as to what their attire needs are for the year.

Attire deadline Monday

Reminder: The deadline to let us know about your dresses and tuxes for this year is this Monday, Aug. 12! We have only heard from a few people. Please let us know as soon as possible so we know what inventory we have to work with, as well as who will need new attire. We really appreciate your prompt response and cooperation. Thank you!

EBOP

If you have a younger student or know someone who does, it's time to register for EBOP for the upcoming school year!  Here is the link for EBOP registration for this year.   

Instrument rental night at HRHS is Mon. 8/26 from 6pm to 8pm.

Additional information (including the calendar) can be found on the EBOP website (http://hrebop.blogspot.com/).  

Beginning EBOP (for those new to their instrument) starts the week of 9/9 at HRHS on Tues and Thurs from 7am to 8am.  

Advanced EBOP (for those who have played their instrument for at least 1 year) starts on Wed 9/4 at HRHS on Mon, Wed, and Fri from 7am to 8am.

Please reach out to Mrs. Jonas directly if you have any additional questions.

Correction to 2019-2020 Attire

Correction:  Boosters would like for all students to have measurements done on their own.  Below is the information needed to complete the required measurements.  The measurements must be completed by Friday, Sept. 6 so we can place the order Sept. 9.  Delivery is expected around Sept. 23.  This should allow enough time for alterations to be made if needed before the Oct. 7 concert.  Using a bulk order will save us on delivery fees.  Any student that doesn't have their measurements in by Friday, Sept. 6 will be required to pay their own delivery fees and run the risk of not having their attire delivered on time.  These dates apply to all new and returning students, as well as those moving up to Chamber this year.

The main volunteer opportunity would be to help with the tuxes on hand and make sure everyone has what they need, as well as verifying the order and sorting it upon delivery.   This will be done on Aug. 14 during the swap meet from 4-6 p.m., as well as during back-to-school night from 6-8 p.m.  Without a volunteer, this may be the only date to get an in-stock tuxedo.  We hope to not be limited to this one date, so if anyone else can help, it would be very helpful.

Thank you so much for your patience! It is greatly appreciated as we work through the logistics of this process.

Symphony/Overture dress & all tuxedos:

https://tuxedowholesaler.com/concert-attire/index.php/redi-ship-program/gowns/crystal.html 

  

https://tuxedowholesaler.com/fittingvideo 

https://tuxedowholesaler.com/forms/TW_Measuring_Form.pdf 

https://tuxedowholesaler.com/forms/TW_HowtoMeasure.pdf 

Chamber dress:

https://www.stageaccents.com/how-to-measure/ 

https://www.stageaccents.com/media/wysiwyg/Page82-86_ChartsForms_updated4.23_1.jpg  (SIZE CHART B)

Fundraising opportunities

I wanted to give you some more information about the other fundraising opportunities that will be coming up throughout the year. 

First of all, you may be wondering why it is so important for us to raise money every year.  Mrs. Jonas is given a limited amount of money to use on music, sectional coaches (these are outside teachers that come work with different sections), transportation to events, competitions, and class instrument repairs.  The boosters are tasked with making up the difference between district funding and what it actually costs to do all of these things with and for our students.  All money raised goes to benefit all three Orchestra classes.  If you have further questions regarding our financials, please email Wendy Becker.

Our easiest fundraising avenue is through King Soopers.  Previously you had to load money onto a gift card, but they have simplified the process greatly.  You now only have to assign Highlands Ranch Orchestra Boosters to your King Soopers rewards card.  You use your card as usual, and they do the rest!  This couldn't be any easier; however, you can only assign one non-profit to your card. The directions to do this are in the document attached to this email.  Please direct any questions to Lisa Birdwell.  

We also have Safeway cards available! They are free and are pre-loaded with $2.50.  You re-load them before you check out, then use it like a regular gift card.  Orchestra gets a portion of the sales for this as well.

Another easy way to help us raise money this year is through our Scrips program.  Scrips is an online and physical gift card program that gives money back to our boosters based on which company you get a gift card from.  There are hundreds of restaurants and retailers available.  The directions and more information about these programs are also attached to this email.  We usually place one or two orders for the physical gift cards during the year to use as gifts. 

We have more restaurant nights being planned right now, and I'll get you that information as soon it's available.  These are a great opportunity for families to help out Orchestra while taking a night off from cooking.  We usually get between 15-30% of the sales from these nights, but our Mod Market return will be 50% of sales so that is very exciting!

Another simple fundraising option we offer is becoming a Friend of the Orchestra.  Families, individuals, and companies can make a tax-deductible donation to Friends of the Orchestra to go toward our general fundraising efforts.  At designated donation levels, we will recognize donors through various methods.  Click here to get more details.

There will most likely be other fundraising efforts that will come up during the year, and we'll let you know about those.  If you have fundraising ideas or an interest in helping, please feel free to contact Alex Collins.  We appreciate all the support you can give us to help us make this an excellent year for our students!  Thank you!

Communications

I wanted to let you know about some of the ways we communicate information for Orchestra Boosters.  It will be a good idea to have these set up before the school year starts if possible.

Emails -- Of course, you'll be getting emails from me (Sandra Rainey) periodically, as well as from Mrs. Jonas, our director.  Be sure to add this email address to your contact list so our emails don't go into spam.

Blog/website -- http://hrhsorchestras.blogspot.com/  We put announcements on here regarding upcoming meetings, concerts, and fundraisers, as well as information about Boosters' happenings.  We strive to be transparent in our operations.  Go to this website to find out about meeting agendas, minutes, and (hopefully soon) our budget information.  You can also find how to contact anyone on the board if you have questions or need help.  There aren't any silly or dumb questions, and if you are thinking it, most likely others are as well.  Our Orchestra Google calendar is on here too, if you'd like to subscribe.

Facebook -- Highlands Ranch High School Orchestras  We put a lot of our event information on here as well as pictures from various events, classes, and performances.  It's easiest to go through the link to find us.

Remind --  This is an app we have for reminders.  We try not to use it too often, but it's useful to have, I think.  To join our class group, enter 81010 into your phone, then text "@orchparen" to that number.  This should be all you need to do.

Sign-up genius -- We will need volunteers periodically throughout the year.  We will send out a sign-up genius to let you know how you can help.  Getting involved in these activities is a great way to get to know fellow parents, as well as being more "in the know." I know my kiddo, especially in younger years, wasn't always the most reliable source of information... It does get better though! LOL!