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We are one week away from heading to Westchester County to find our new home. We are leaning towards Harrison HS and White Plains HS for their jazz and marching band program.
Any information about Eastchester? Somers?
Any info about the music program in any of the public HS will be so appreciated.
Can you please share what you found? In the same position and would like to find a good public school in westcHester ny with a decent (preferably great) band. Thanks for any help you can give.
I can't believe no one has mentioned Port Chester High School yet. I grew up in nearby Rye Brook, and while PCHS did have a reputation for being more of a rough and tumble type school than Blind Brook HS, it was also known for having an excellent band. They have both a marching band and a jazz band. The Port Chester High School band has played in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, the halftime show at the Orange Bowl, and has appeared in the movies Miracle on 34th Street (1994) and Spiderman 3 (2007).
Port Chester itself may not be as nice as parts of Harrison and White Plains, but it's no worse than most of Mt. Vernon, either (the Fleetwood area of Mt. Vernon is nice).
Our search was tough -- we had four days to find a rental that met our needs, being totally new to the area. Through much hard work with a realtor, we found a house in Scarsdale for $3,900/mth. A bit over our budget but we stretched. This is what happens when you only have four days total to sign.
Good news -- it's a fantastic high school (so far). We have been welcomed through the registration process, even though both kids have "average" grades from Florida. My son, the musician, wrote one of the band directors and he is going in today to meet him and to help set up the band room(s). This was his way of being proactive and reaching out prior to school starting. Teacher has been great and emailed him right back, even though it is summer.
No marching band, but they have a varsity band which sounds like a pep band. Musicians can earn a varsity letter. Great jazz, symphonic, wind, etc. I'll know more when school starts, but it seems like the faculty are fantastic.
Locally, and through our search, heard good things about White Plains (big marching band), Harrison, Port Chester. I hope that is helpful.
Scarsdale has a well known music program, but is not known in the marching band arena. It's a high end school district (with correspondingly high taxes) and the schools have a great reputation.
Port Chester has a high quality, competitive marching band and a competitive jazz band and a long history of great band directors. And it's right next to Purchase! It's a far more affordable village than Scarsdale.
Ossining has a marching band. Here's a list of the bands that made it to the St. Patrick's Day parade last year, maybe you can glean some from here: New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade
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