Band

Depending on the school, a band student may do one of these or all three across the year.

• Marching band — fall

  Summer camp, Friday night football games and Saturday contests. This is the heaviest part of the band year.

• Concert band — winter and spring

  Concerts plus KMEA large-group assessment. The music is harder and the schedule is calmer.

• Jazz band

  Only if that school staffs it, and it is often auditioned. Do not assume a school has a jazz group.

Not orchestra. Not choir. Not a one-hour club. Marching is closer to a fall sport than to a club. Some schools require marching if a student takes band class and some do not — ask before you sign anything.

The band director at the school. KMEA runs the contests and assessments. JCPS does not assign a district marching coach, and there is no district band staff to call.

Elementary

Beginner class only where the school offers it. Lincoln Elementary Performing Arts builds band into the school day. Most neighborhood elementaries do not offer band at all.

Middle

Usually a class in the school day. Some middle school bands already go to KMEA assessment.

High

Band class plus after-school marching at schools that compete. YPAS at duPont Manual is an auditioned magnet major, not the neighborhood model.

Marching weeks can mean summer camp, weeknight rehearsals, Friday games and Saturday shows. Ask what time rehearsal ends and how your child gets home — that answer decides whether the fall works for your family.

There is no single JCPS band price. Ask the director to split it out: school fee, instrument rental, shoes and gloves, guard extras, camp, travel, and the tickets parents buy at the gate. Board fee lists have shown marching fees from a few hundred dollars at one JCPS high school to $600 at another. Ask about waivers or a booster payment plan.

KMEA ratings run Distinguished, Proficient, Apprentice, Novice. All-State is a separate audition — district first, then state. What counts later is section leader, drum major, and years in the program. “In band” on its own does not.

• Ask the front office for the band director by name, then contact the director directly.
• Ask when beginners are placed — some schools only start beginners in one grade.
• Ask when marching information and camp dates go out, and get on that list.
• Ask whether the school has an instrument to rent before you buy one.

Not every JCPS school offers this, and availability changes year to year. Confirm at your child's school before you plan around it.

1. Is band a class, after school, or both?
2. Is marching required if my child takes band?
3. What instruments can the school rent?
4. When is camp, and what nights are marching rehearsals?
5. How does my child get home after rehearsal?
6. What is this year's fee, and is there help if we cannot pay it all at once?
7. Do you compete in KMEA marching, concert assessment, jazz, or solo & ensemble?
8. Can a beginner start here this year?

This list is incomplete on purpose. We only list what we have actually seen a school publish, so a school missing here may still run the program — and a school listed here can drop it. Confirm at the school.

• Lincoln Elementary Performing Arts

  Band in the school day — an arts-pathway school, not the typical elementary.

• Western Middle School for the Arts

  Whole-school arts magnet with an application and audition — an arts-pathway school.

• Farnsley Middle

  KMEA Distinguished listed in district materials.

• Marion C. Moore

  Distinguished at the 2026 KMEA concert assessment.

• duPont Manual / YPAS

  Band as an auditioned performing-arts major — an arts-pathway school.

Ask for the band director by name. Ask when beginners are placed and when marching information goes out. Camp is when a lot of families find out they already missed the start.