Enlargement of Band Room at Putnam City West High School
Putnam City West’s band room is insufficient for student learning that needs to take place. The band and orchestra currently share one room. Equipment for both groups – drums, marimbas, xylophones, string basses, cellos, tubas, sousaphones, chairs and music stands – is currently stored in the room. Students entering the room are confronted with an obstacle course before they can even sit down. There are no practice rooms for individual and group practice. In order for students to practice individually or in small groups, they must practice in the hall. Rehearsals must be scheduled in the band room before and after school.
An expansion of the band room would accommodate section rehearsals, percussion ensembles, and even two complete bands rehearsing simultaneously. An expansion could also accommodate future integration of technology including computer stations which would allow students access to music notation and theory programs. Computers equipped with microphones could also provide students with an immediate evaluation of their individual performance.
The need for the expansion is even more pressing because band enrollment at Western Oaks Middle School and Mayfield Middle School, the two middle schools that feed into Putnam City West, is the highest it has been in more than a decade. Housing higher number of students wishing to develop their musical abilities requires an expansion of the facility.
Cost: $1 million