Classroom Welcome Letter

Dear Mariachi Students and Parents:

Welcome to the 2021-22 school year! I am pleased to take this opportunity to introduce
myself to you and welcome your student to Kingsborough Middle School. This will be my
1st year teaching Mariachi at Kingsborough Middle School. I am a graduate of Berklee
College of Music with a major in Music education. I am also a graduate of the U.S. Armed
Forces School of Music and served as a Trumpet Player for the U.S. Army. I have also
worked as an independent music consultant in the San Antonio area for the last five years.

Mariachi is a subject area that incorporates lesson plans towards music reading, music
writing, music listening, singing, and performing a musical instrument. I am really looking
forward to the upcoming school year, building upon the skills students mastered last year in
their music class, and helping students accomplish new challenges in the music subject
area. I feel that a positive learning experience is built on a collaborative effort among
parents, student, and teacher, and I welcome your questions and concerns as the year
progresses.

While your student is in the classroom, they will be required to be on time, respect their
classmates, listen to instructions and follow directions, ask for permission before using
classroom equipment, and clean up after themselves.

Students will be graded on active participation every day during lessons. This will
include note taking, asking questions, volunteering to answer questions or demonstrate a
task, and discussing the topic of the lesson. Students will also be graded on daily
individual performance of their assigned instrument. Musical exercises or passages will
be assigned to each student at the end of every week, which will then be assessed as a
homework grade. The Final Semester grade will be based on the end of semester
performance in December and in May.

We have many expectations for our music students at Kingsborough Middle School. One of
the biggest is being responsible for assignments and actions. Your student is responsible for
completing and turning in each assignment. Homework will be assigned weekly in my class,
and will include daily practice logs (Monday-Thursday) which are expected to be turned
in EVERY FRIDAY ON GOOGLE CLASSROOM, unless otherwise noted on my web
page lesson plans. It is essential that you follow up at home with assignments, projects,
homework, correspondences, and reinforcing positive behavior. MY WEEKLY LESSON
PLANS AND HOMEWORK WILL BE POSTED ON MY COURSE WEBSITE FOR
YOU WEEKLY TO VIEW AT WWW.KINGBOROUGH.NET.

It is my ultimate goal for each of my students to experience success and to foster a love of
performing music. I am thrilled to work with you and your child over the course of the school
year. If questions or concerns should arise, please feel free to email or call anytime to
schedule a conference. I look forward to meeting with you and your child!

Sincerely,
Mr. Salinas