January - 2024

Lightridge Chorus -

Happy New Year! We have jumped right into our assessment music in all ensembles this week and we are making quick progress! This newsletter will share information regarding second-quarter grades, Course Selections, the Lightridge Singers - Select Treble - Select Bass Assessment Clinic, and the Boosters Meeting. Here is a link to our Winter Concert! Thank you to all of you who attended and for your support!

Second Quarter Grades

All grades are up to date at this time for Lightridge Chorus students. Students will be receiving a Major Summative Grade reflecting their cumulative Formal Formative Grades for Rehearsal Skills on the last day of the quarter. This grade will indicate the sum of all of the formative grades combined. Besides that final submission, everything is accurate and prepared for report cards. If you or your students have any concerns regarding their grades, please do not hesitate to reach out to me!

Assessment Clinic - Sunday January 28th

The Lightridge Singers, Select Treble, and Select Bass students will be participating in an assessment clinic on Sunday, January 28th from 4 PM - 7 PM. This clinic will include music educators from Northern Virginia who can specifically assist our singers with vocal technique as we prepare for our assessment season. This will serve as a Major Summative assessment for the students in these ensembles.

Course Selections

Course Selections for high school are fast approaching. As students continue on or are embarking on the beginning of high school, it is important to consider the benefits of performing arts electives. Please make sure your student has chorus on their Course Requests!

  1. Music courses help students create diversity for their college applications. Creativity is valued in the college acceptance process. A sequential music elective also showcases long-term commitment, diligence, and responsibility. Students utilize these skills in all aspects of their lives. How will your students’ college applications differ from other students in Loudoun County?

  2. Employers hire creative team workers who stand out. The first question asked in many interviews is, “Tell me about yourself?” Does the candidate showcase unique perspectives and skills that can benefit the company? Employers want candidates who are masters in their content knowledge but also excel in skills like communication, listening, critical thinking, and problem-solving - all of which are taught in fine arts.

  3. Honors Music becomes an option for students in high school. The purpose of the honors music option is to challenge students to participate in a diverse spectrum of pre-approved musical activities to enrich their overall musical understanding and provide deeper learning. Successful completion of these requirements will result in an additional 0.5 credit for the chorus class your student is already in.

  4. Students can continue to be a school community. The continuation of growing musical skills will result in more performance opportunities, advanced courses, and new repertoire. As your child gets older, they will have more space in their schedule for additional electives closer to the end of their high school career. Their junior and senior year is a great time for their transcript to incorporate additional interests your student has. Please also consider your student completing a course through Virtual Loudoun during the school year for no cost.

If you or your student has any questions about this process - please do not hesitate to reach out to me!

Miami Updates

For those who are attending Miami, $1000 should have been paid so far. Please make sure the total in your receipts has come to that. If not - please make sure that you fulfill a payment to catch up here: https://lcps.schoolcashonline.com/Fee/Details/25569/371/False/True. You can change the quantity to be the right amount that you are missing!

The final payment amount has not been shared yet. We are waiting on that from the company before I send out the link! Please make sure that you are up to date so far. For those who participated in the cookie dough fundraiser, I’ll be sure to subtract your totals from that final payment.

The InterMiami Game:

We really tried to make this happen and were ready to go UNTIL InterMiami released their schedule and the game is on the same night that we fly back home. We tried to push everything back a day but it really was impossible.

BUT

I am in contact with DC United. InterMiami will be in town in DC on Saturday, March 16th. I had a great conversation with them on the phone today and they are finalizing details to see if we can perform at the game! I will share more details when I have them!

Chorus Boosters

The Lightridge Chorus Boosters is diligently working to support the Chorus program. Thank you so much to those of you who have signed up to be a member and to those of you who have donated the the program as a whole. Our next meeting is on Wednesday, February 7th at 6:30 PM. Here are some items that we will be focusing on:

  • scheduling senior banners and photos

  • tax receipts for those who donated in 2023

  • budget report

  • fees for auxiliary instrumentation [percussionists, strings players, etc.]

  • fees for auxiliary staff [sound for concerts, etc.]

To become a Booster Member, please click on this link.

Best,

Helai Karim Rutan