by Lauryn Hughes | staff writer

There is a new addition to the B-wing; a band hall is being built to accommodate the growing department. This enhancement will provide the students more space to practice their music and help them practice without disturbing one another.

“We have a lot of periods that overlap right now—as you can see, we have two bands rehearsing right now. That will make rehearsing the two bands at the same time much easier. We do a complete tear down of our stuff for color guard rehearsal and with the new band hall color guard can rehearse in one room and we could keep the band separated throughout the day. It’s going to make a lot of the logistics of teaching 350 kids much easier,” band teacher Daniel Musacchio said.

The space will consist of many useful areas for not only the students, but also for the parents and teachers.

“My answer to this is not confirmed yet because it’s not built and we haven’t moved yet, but I believe there will be additional offices in the band hall. Mr. Lipman’s office will move over to the new band hall and that is the only confirmed change. There will also be a space for the band parents, as kind of a storage slash work space for them,” Musacchio said.

The new hall will not have new lockers for the students to store instruments or equipment, but will prove to be useful in other areas, such as practice. 

“I know that it is a little bit bigger than this hall , I don’t know the exact measurements but, especially with no lockers, it’s going to seem pretty gargantuan,” Musacchio said.

Along with the new equipment that will be brought in  for students, the band hall’s upgrade will make the experience less crowded and more enjoyable for all who practice there.

“We have the large space, we have the offices, the band parent locker area, and work space. Other than that, there’s going to be a sink in there, some plumbing and other than that I don’t think there’s much that’s confirmed. We’re getting new music stands and chairs to go with it; I know that’s a big plus for our band members. We are rationing music stands around here,” Musacchio said.

The construction will continue on for the rest of the 2018-2019 school year, but the new hall will be finished soon.

“June or July is the current deadline, and I say deadline but construction projects often get  pushed back, but that has been the end date we have been hoping for for a while so were keeping our fingers crossed that at least by August band camp next year we’ll be in it. We will have to do a big moving day at some point once its done to get everything in there. They’ll have to do all the inspections though once the actual structure’s built just to make sure it’s safe to be in,” Musacchio said.