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Hi, everybody! As a deeply involved alumnus of Duncanville, I'd like to share with you the information that has been shared to the public (both the students/parents and community) so far in both the Mini Band Camp as well as at the Community Meeting with the Superintendent last night. As was noted in the meeting notice above, Mrs. Paula Tagalos (the 2nd Director) is currently the Interim Director and all plans for the 2025 season are moving forward without any changes. No changes to Style, Design, Competition Schedule, etc. During the Superintendent meeting, there were 120+ people that attended to hear what the district had to say and voice their own opinions, thoughts, and concerns. The general tone of the attendees was concern around the lack of transparency, suddenness, fear of the unknown future, and a demand for accountability in how the district has been treating the band program. Part of the reality is that for legal reasons, any school district cannot discuss personnel decisions publicly, and so there is no way to help peoples' desire to know the full "why" of the situation. Another part of the reality is that the district cannot publicly discuss hiring decisions that have not yet been finalized, and so it is hard to help people with their fear of the future. But, while discussing the future direction of the band and listening to the values that the students and parents want to see in the future Head Director, it became evident that the community and the district were aligned in who they both expect and want the future Head Director to be; Mrs. Paula Tagalos. The Superintendent could not come out and say it directly, but he was also unable to avoid hinting in that direction. Again, nothing is changing and it is all but certain that there is no outside-hire coming in to take the Head Director position and change the band. The Drama has largely been due to the lack of transparency and poor and vague messaging about the situation that filled the students, parents, and community with fear, uncertainty, and doubt; and the Superintendent acknowledged and owned up to the districts errors in regard to the transparency and messaging.

bald

They’re remaking Long Strange Trip! They’re calling it Wish You Were Here. 🥰

Rockwall-Heath also has this on their calendar

I just wanted to pop in here and let everyone know that the 2025 DCI Predictions are happening! The game is now open for submissions! I will be making a new topic for the game shortly in the next day or two. Let's all enjoy this season of DCI!

James E. Taylor "Beautifully Broken"

Someone needs to get me off the internet 😂 Prosper: The Odyssey

After looking at some of the selections, I'd agree that the Leander schools are all top contenders, especially Rouse with Pictures at an Exhibition. Wakeland is definitely up there, and I'm curious how they'll do with this being their first submission with their new director. LT with Elsa's Procession is certainly a feat, and I wouldn't be surprised if they took the top spot. Also, I saw Argyle with Fountains of Rome, so I wouldn't rule them out, considering they won 4A Honor Band not too long ago. Im excited to see how all of this will play out!

Memorial HS of Frisco, TX announces Mark Teal as their next Director of Bands, former director of Duncanville HS. Could be a good move for the program to push higher into finals.

First off, this Area Finals Group is the BEST Area in 5A. We have 3–4 STATE FINALISTS here EVERY YEAR, and the Most CREATIVE Shows. This is such an interesting and Competitive Area, Wow. Wakeland (Very clean marching with amazing music. Getting better every year. Those BOA results were insane for a 5A, starting to beat a lot of major 6A schools.) Lonestar/Argyle (Lonestar is making INSANE improvement, crazy jumps — 16th, 7th, 6th at State — and the music is just getting better and better. Holy moly, that Area B Prelims run... Argyle has made an INSANE comeback, holy — 20th at Grand Nat’s, 7th at State, sitting right below Lone Star at 5A State 2024.) Argyle/McKinney North (Argyle, taking LT by 1 point, TRULY put on a show at State, and was 8 spots away from Grand National Finals! McKinney North — very cool shows, the jazz and the screamers, with the cool uniforms, good flutter technique — awesome. Vibes are immaculate.) Argyle/Mckinney North/LT/Reedy/Heritage (LT is always a 4th placer, and losing State by 1 point was hard on them. Especially Heritage’s drop from 6th to 10th in Area. These 4 bands are out for blood. Heritage and Lebanon Trail TIED for 5th/6th. Man, these guys are just going to be CLOSE. I'm not 100% who's taking this spot, but this is interesting. These guys have all lost something, and the 1-point loss/win/tie battle will KEEP GOING. These guys have very unique style — this is gonna be good.) Reedy/Heritage/Liberty (First off, these 3 bands here have made AMAZING improvement. Heritage went from 16th for 2 years to 6th in Prelims. Reedy getting 6th in Finals — these guys are making jumps. Heritage is bringing something WAY different, less focused on props. Reedy is going to push out everything and give it their all after their 6th place finish. Heritage and Reedy will NOT be backing down. Liberty’s 14th to 7th jump — WOW. Never thought I'd hear from them.) Reedy/Heritage/Liberty/Memorial/WG (Nothing to say on this one — one of these guys will be 6th though.) Liberty/Memorial/WG (Walnut Grove is a new school, but not bad results for a new school. Who knows.) Memorial/WG/Liberty (Memorial usually is a good band, but they always make finals! They are a very interesting band — I love their shows and their underratedness.) The Colony/Emerson (I don't know, man. The Colony has had a rollercoaster of results — 6th in 2023, then 12th. That's a major jump. I hope they can beat my prediction, but my hopes aren't that high.) Emerson/The Colony/Melissa/Independence (Missing 10th place by just barely sucked for Emerson. This band had very interesting props and music. Kinetic Playground was awesome, and I hope to see them here.)

Here is a good thing about every school in this area coming in to this season (alphabetical) Allen: I thought that Fire and Ice was a step in the right direction for their program and what potential the band could have. Braswell: They underdogged their way to the top 5 and had an incredibly great show, and that 380 area is experiencing tremendous growth. Byron Nelson: I really liked their show last year and I'm excited to see what they have ready for this upcoming year Flower Mound: I love what they are doing with the theming, and I also believe that they can benefit a lot from the new judging system for Area. Guyer: I think that Guyer is great with concepts, as long as they can have a show they can execute they could do a lot this year. Hebron: State champions in 6A and still one of the most talked about bands online. Lewisville: They get a little unappreciated due to their siblings being a little better than them, but I think that they have a ton of potential in their program. Little Elm: Their guard won WGI Scholastic Open with a record score for that class and the percussion got invited to Midwest, which could bring a lot of motivation for the band program for this year and future years. Marcus: I enjoy getting to watch their shows year from year, and it is always satisfying to see how Marcus performs. McKinney: They might be THE school to look out for this year. McKinney Boyd: With the right show I think that they will do a lot for their program, I think that they could definitely reach high with it. Northwest: With the right show they could place higher than you could expect, and I think that they could be a sleeper school once they start building up these next few years. Plano: They were pretty close to making finals this year, which may mean that there could be a lot of motivation to push them to that direction. Plano East: For sneaking into the finals, it was a little surprising but not unexpected with a show that was great to watch as a spectator. Plano West: I saw that the jazz went to the Essentially Ellington contest, which is pretty cool and I think that could mean that they are building to be a good program or year for them in other aspects and not just in jazz. Princeton: They had a solid show for their first year in 6A, and they are one of the fastest growing towns in America which could help with size Prosper: They are coming off from a Grand Nationals appearance, and I think that they could be a contender state once again with a good show. Rock Hill: Rock Hill is more of a concept school but that is the cool thing about them is that they are great with coming up with theming which could be good for GE. V.R Eaton: They are also someone you should look out for, they will probably have a really good show, as long as the execution can happen a lot can happen for this year for Eaton. Wylie: I saw that they had staff changes, which I think will be good for them. I think that they could be someone to sneak higher than they were and if not I know they will still have a great show. Wylie East: They have the staff changes they need I think. The Sachse director was a good grab and I think it could mean a lot for their program Area J is an area where you can see great things happening in every school regardless of if they were 1st, 14th or 20th which is the good thing about J is because it might seem competitive the whole time but there is growth happening in every school that might not be seen the whole time because of something as simple as a placement. I'm excited to see how all of these bands do this year and I hope I get the chance to see a lot of these shows this year.

Prosper Richland HS: "Home Sweet Home"

Shadow Creek's 2025 show is entitled " The Red Balloon " featuring the selections from: Hans Zimmer Richard Saucedo Sara Bareilles - Look for the Light David Gillingham Their show follows a French film where " a boy discovers his balloon has a mind of its own."

Yes, the process wasn’t professional at all. I’m sure if they discussed this with the band families before the shake-up…it would’ve been taken well. Let’s hope for a future with Duncanville with lots of wins.

I'd like to express that regardless of why/how the transition came about; I know Mark Teal did try to give it his all in making the band what he envisioned. Not to play devil's advocate, but before Mark had received the Head Band Director position there was many, many rumors that (and please take this with a grain of salt) allegedly the district had other head band director's in mind BUT ultimately wanted to give Mark Teal the position to see how his vision would shape the band's progress. They had a set number of years to give Mark Teal to "prove" he could take the band where it once was and where they wanted it to be compared to the bands in Hebron, Flower Mound, Vandegrift, etc. They favored Mark, because of his tenure with the band and being one of the only last band director's from the original glory days. Now, this was always up for discussion when the years went by...could he develop the band and make it what it once was or better...or would the band fade into the background? Since, Mark had taken over the band they have slipped far below expectations from the district. They have missed competition finals due to low placements, the State Competition was missed for the first time since the 1980s under his direction, the smaller competitions that Duncanville has been attending have garnered them some Top Placements but at what cost? They are not competing against Bands of America competitors or UIL State Competitors and frankly it should’ve been easier wins but even in those categories it was lackluster. Marching Band in Texas has improved significantly and I am not blaming everything on the direction of the head band director. The district of Duncanville highly favors their sports teams such as Basketball and Football, but the wins in those categories prove their favoritism. If you want to be part of the District's budget, you have to prove that someone on the Dville Band Team can win... consistently. This information was known before Mark Teal was hired as a head band director and the district's faith in Mark was weary because he had become the sole leader in developing the marching shows and commanding how the band looked on the field a few years before ever became Head Band Director and whether he knows it or not...the district was always watching since he began his creative directing in the band Prior to his direction, George Townsend (now passed away), was suppose to be the lead band director in charge of the future of Duncanville Band. He had many wins under his belt from small competitions to bigger competitions. His last show that he created was in 2016. Mark Teal created the programs from 2017 - Present, but ultimately what has happened now with the district pushing out Mark is what happened a bit with how the original set of band directors did with George before any changes came about. I am hoping Mrs. Paula Tagalos is able to shape Duncanville Band into what the students and parents and former alumni can be proud of. Once again, I hope Mark can find his footing into another adventure and shape that band with a district that supports him fully. I think the time clock was running out for him ever since he started. It was more of a practice run and maybe Mrs. Paula Tagalos can lead this band into a great program and Duncanville will be in the discussions yet again. ***This information is not to be hateful or accusatory. Having information for years and seeing how it played out ultimately made me write this. I do wish the best for everyone.

I think we're in for a very competitive season from top to bottom. I actually would have had Blue Devils over Boston last night, although it was close. There's nothing in Boston's show that reaches the magnificence of the beginning and ending parts of the Blue Devils' show. The problem is all the stuff between the bookends, and making it feel seamless. But then I also thought Boston and Bloo had pacing issues. The shows at the top all feel a bit busy and overstuffed to me. Bloo has absolutely amazing moments sprinkled throughout, minimalist soundscaping stuff akin to their 2015 show, but those moments aren't connected so great, and the visual is a tad cramped and cluttery at times with all the boxes on the field. It's a little reminiscent of Blue Devils from last season. I find myself wanting more formal beauty from Bloo again, of the sort we got during their ballad last year. I want the visual to breathe more. Boston's show, it's one of those shows that's well-performed, but I don't remember it so great after watching it. I think I was expecting more memorable space age visuals or something. As of right now, I view it as a great drill, great music show, with an amazing color guard. But I want to be more hooked. I want some strange, contemporary freshness. Also, I want their low brass to maybe pull back a little. It's a little... Texas loud Boom-y? 😅 SCV has stepped it up -- one of the ones that I think is better than last year, along with Devils, Phantom, and probably Crown, once they clean their visual. SCV has flashes of that gorgeous Gaines formal drill, mixed with the more gobbledygooky contemporary style. I'm not sure SCV's performance will be polished enough by the end of the season to challenge the top 3, however, outside of percussion. Color guard, for example, is noticeably weaker. I'm genuinely curious how far out from the top 3 Phantom and Crown will land. I don't think there's any one show right now that screams gold medal -- just some gold medal worthy moments here and there.

Put Emerson in second and you’ve got my list

Oh, yeah. The Cavaliers are way better than they were last year, when they were quite, "Eek!" both in performance and design at the first show. The drill writing in particular is SO much better. They'll probably place 7th to 9th this year, although I haven't seen enough to really know. I do wish the designers had done more to illustrate the Shape Shift theme, like have the members transform or something. As of right now, it seems like they could have slapped a number of names onto the show and been fine. Actually, maybe THAT'S the shape shift part. 😅

Thoughts on tonight: Cavies: Omg this show is sooooo much better than last years. Bent leg is back. Their brass back is pretty challenging at times. Guard was really solid, great rifle moments. The Euph in the ballad had an interesting tone, but still rocked it. Some really cool drill moments that come SA or earlier will be super effective. Very untested to see Phantom-OH. MY.GOSH!!! I loved last year a ton but wow they have stepped it up again!! While it will be hard, it’s got medal potential. I mean holy mellos. Their book top to bottom is much better imo, love that ballad. The show might not have a name, which is think is cool because it leaves it up to personal interpretation. Guard was great as well. I’d be very surprised if they moved down at all, hopefully going up!! Crown- while I love their brass book, I was a little disappointed. The drill is somewhat High School level stuff, I mean it’s so easy to tell it’s a Cartwright show, feels like Broken Arrow 22. And the drill was very messy. Idk how there gonna do, again brass is ridiculous per the usual but this definitely isn’t the right direction if they’re trying to go up imo. overall great night. This year is gonna be insane, super excited for SCV here later and Bloo and west coast tour tomorrow.

If my school isn't referred to as "Cy-Fai" by NFHS I will riot

Probably like 20 more staff changes.... jk lol Heres my top 10 for now 1. Sachse 2. Wax 3. Dville 4. Berkner 5. Forney 6. Rockwall 7. J.J Pearce 8. Lake Highlands 9. Rockwall Heath 10. Rowlett I know Sachse has a large director change, but I have no doubt that they will have a good season still. As long as they can take what they learnt last year from one of my favorite Sachse shows if not 2024 shows, they will have another state year. I think that Berkner could have a good enough show to make state again and sneak in the Top 4. If they can match something similar to that 2023 show I'd love to see it. I think Rowlett could be a hidden gem this year, not sure what it is but I have a feeling they could be a sleeper this year, so keep an eye out for them. Richardson and Royse are also good picks for finals as well, excited to see how this area turns out.

Area hearings are continuing through today, the 24th. A couple of areas have already finished, but as new info comes in, I will update below! Here is the compiled list of areas and who is advancing to the state level. Area A 5A Amarillo HS, Amarillo ISD 3C Nimitz MS, Ector County ISD Area B 5A Wakeland HS, Frisco ISD Aledo HS, Aledo ISD Colleyville Heritage HS, Grapevine-Colleyville ISD Grapevine HS, Grapevine-Colleyville ISD 3C Faubion MS, McKinney ISD Aledo MS, Aledo ISD McLean MS, Fort Worth ISD Coppell MS North, Coppell ISD Area AB 3A Bushland HS, Bushland ISD Breckenridge HS, Breckenridge ISD City View JH/HS, City View ISD Holliday HS, Holliday ISD 1C Olney MS, Olney ISD Applied Learning Academy, Fort Worth ISD Area C 5A Argyle HS, Argyle ISD Kaufman HS, Kaufman ISD 3C Killian MS, Lewisville ISD Hudson MS, Garland ISD Area D 5A A&M Consolidated HS, College Station ISD Weiss HS, Pflugerville ISD 3C Red Oak MS, Red Oak ISD Walsh MS, Round Rock ISD Area CD 3A Bowie HS, Bowie ISD Commerce HS, Commerce ISD Grand Saline HS, Grand Saline ISD New Diana HS, New Diana ISD Troy HS, Troy ISD Westwood HS, Westwood ISD West Rusk HS, West Rusk ISD Howe HS, Howe ISD 1C Mineola MS, Mineola ISD New Diana MS, New Diana ISD Union Grove JH, Union Grove ISD Westwood JH, Westwood ISD William B. Travis Academy/Vanguard MS, Dallas ISD West Rusk JH, West Rusk ISD Howe MS, Howe ISD Area E 5A Cedar Park HS, Leander ISD Rouse HS, Leander ISD 3C Canyon Ridge MS, Leander ISD Cedar Park MS, Leander ISD Tex Hill MS, North East ISD Area G 5A PSJA North ECHS, Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD Roma HS, Roma ISD Rivera ECHS, Brownsville ISD 3C Herrera MS, United ISD - Laredo South MS, Edinburg CISD Area EG 3A Poth HS, Poth ISD Robert G. Cole HS, Fort Sam Houston ISD Santa Gertrudis Academy, Santa Gertrudis ISD Raymondville ECHS, Raymondville ISD Florence HS, Florence ISD 1C Santa Gertrudis MS, Santa Gertrudis ISD Brewster School, Edinburg CISD Area F 5A Port Neches-Groves HS, Port Neches-Groves ISD Brenham HS, Brenham ISD 3C Kleb IS, Klein ISD Knox JH, Conroe ISD Krimmel IS, Klein ISD Area H 5A Friendswood HS, Friendswood ISD Barbers Hill HS, Barbers Hill ISD 3C Dulles MS, Fort Bend ISD League City IS, Clear Creek ISD Berry Miller JH, Pearland ISD Pearland JH West, Pearland ISD Area FH 3A 1 band TBD 1C 1 band TBD

BIG things are happening in Area J for percussion!!! Congrats to both Braswell and Hebron HS Percussion for both being winners of PASIC 2025 International Percussion Ensemble Competition in the HS division!!! Percussion will be really strong in this area with lots of programs doing really good this spring and summer in percussion!!

west mesquite uniforms looking tuff

McNeil: The Same Old Story

List seems pretty legit, having Little Elm at 4th over Rock Hill is a bit ambitious but it is definitely possible, I think they could be a dark horse for 25-26 season and I can see them passing over RH, very excited to see what they have to show for this year. Also now that you have Argyle as one of your Percussion options, i'm a bit curious to see their percussion so I'll have to watch. I think this will be one of the lists to look at before we start seeing some shows in the Fall, but I think that there will be a lot of action in the top 5 that you put down and this will be one of the DFW contests to go to this year.

My early predictions as of now will update closer to contest..... 1. Lone Star 2. Argyle 3. McKinney 4. Little Elm 5. Rock Hill/ Walnut Grove 6. Walnut Grove/ Memorial 7. Memorial 8. James Martin 9. Liberty 10. Celina 11. Rowlett 12. North Forney/Garland Brass: Lone Star WW: Lone Star Visual: Lone Star/ Argyle Music: Lone Star Perc: Little Elm/ Argyle Aux: Little Elm

Here are my 2nd version of predictions, excited to see how this contest goes. 1. Lone Star 2. Argyle 3. McKinney 4. Rock Hill 5. Little Elm 6. Walnut Grove 7. James Martin 8. Liberty 9. Memorial 10. Celina 11. Rowlett 12. North Forney/Garland possibly? I have them in their "bubbles" that I think could be interchanged with each other. Brass: Argyle or maybe McKinney WW: Lone Star Visual: Argyle Music: Argyle/Lone Star Perc: Little Elm Aux: Little Elm

Oh and Richardson also got a new guard director who marched crown, phan, and bloo, and also was on bloo staff for the 2024 season.

It’s not uncommon for some bands to do both! Wylie East did so in 2022

With the 2025 band season starting to approach, who do you think will be a dark horse of this year? Almost like how Braswell was where they just kinda underdogged their way up to 5th in J last year, who do you guys think that will be for this upcoming season?

McNeil stays in finals and advances to state.

😬, i definitely don’t agree with the fact they would be similar to LT or MN, this isn’t a diss to those bands but you just can’t compare a 4A to a 5A, an example seen is at Don Hanna, panther creek got 6th and lost to bands like The colony, Mansfield, little elm, and James Martian who didn’t really place that high overall in their respective area. That’s why as you stated with Anna, despite being bronze medalists they performed poorly in 5A since it’s just such a different environment.

Seems like North DFW will one day just be Melissa and McKinney as the non BOAs in town, at least Don Hanna is still going strong, cant say the same about Plano East though, from what I think multiple are dropping from an already tiny contest. I think don hanna will live to see past it though it is a good contest for medium sized programs.

Hey yall..... We have DCI Predictions Game happening NOW! 😁 If interested, you can head over to https://www.txbands.com/predict/ and start suggesting events. Please note that with this being the DCI Season, captions are not normally given out to the regular events, and also the number of finalists spots should be the number of corps that will be at whatever event you are submitting. Please keep note of these small differences from fall marching to DCI. I will also be checking up with these events and making sure everything is good to go. Oh, and when submitting events, please know that if you attempt to re-submit an event over and over again, you will get a warning pop-up box. I believe that is all. I will update you all within this topic if anything changes. If yall have anything, you can message me or Clarinot and/or leave a comment/message on this topic. And with that, I am out of here for the night! Peace out "DCIholics" and "Bandaholics"!

Honestly, at this point Dallas at least 5 and 6A will probably need a revamping of their areas and regions especially considering the heavy growth in Denton and Collin counties

I believe Lone Star will be at this event.... They haven't updated their calendar yet.

Little Cypress - Mauriceville (LCM) theme screenshot. Video reveal on their FB. It is similar to NL's theme. Rise Up (LCM) vs. Ascension (NL) Both are playing Stairway to Heaven. LCM was usually in finals prior to the Area C realignment.

Here are some quick predictions of mine for now, I will change them either once I get more in depth or when we get next year's enrollment numbers. Drops 6A to 5A: Longview, Dallas Jesuit, Rowlett, Berkner, Rock Hill, Westview, Lancaster 5A to 4A: Frisco Memorial, Denison, Dallas Adamson, Kaufman, CC King, CC Moody, H Austin, H Sterling Jumps 4A to 5A: Sulphur Springs, Celina, Panther Creek, Community, Lake Dallas, Decatur, Davenport, West Plains 5A to 6A: McKinney North, Leander, Aledo, Sherman, Reedy, Lake Belton, Denton Ryan I probably won't do 3A down until a later time since I'm not as familiar with it as 4A-6A. I think we'll have 7A in 2030 or 2028 but not 2026 for now.

Round Rock: The spark of imagination

Definitely small but a mighty list, if I wasn't all the way over in DFW this would seem like one of the best contests to go to in probably the austin area for the season

I do agree that it seems they have, especially post covid, other than 2022, have had shows that try to keep “traditional” marching band with the more “artsy” stuff we see today. And while the kids look and sound great, if they want to get back to their previous status, they will, at least imo, need to start heading in that direction. Again just a personal observation but some change was def needed to get back on top, so I do understand more now the reasoning, but still don’t like how they process with the situation.

Plano Sr. Shine Bright

Melissa HS

I’m looking so forward to this battle again this fall.

What did y’all think of the big and mighty Big D Bryan Adams Cougar Band who placed last place in this past season 5A Area C marching band contest?

Cy springs should also make an appearance as we usually do per our band calendar 😁

no bias or anything but... u said u were running off of last years finalists and i think klein oak made fourth last year lol. how come that low?? they were pretty good last year

83 confirmed bands so far! (See original post for the most updated list).