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"Why Is The Band So Small?" is written by Mr. Stephen Cherry, the Director of Bands at Washington School District. This statement is a live document and can be updated with new information.
Greetings! Over the past few years I have either been asked or read the question on social media: “Why is Wash High Band so small now?” I decided to answer the community with this written statement:
Washington High School has always had a strong music department over the decades, especially the band ensembles. These ensembles include the marching band, symphonic band (previously the wind ensemble and concert band), jazz ensemble, and steel drum band. When I was hired as the director in December of 2018, the band consisted of 30 students. By the next school year, 65 students enrolled in the program. By February of 2020, 82 students were registered to participate for the following year. But by March of 2020, the unexpected happened: The COVID-19 Pandemic.
Though we still had a strong high school music program, our beginning grades were affected. By the time we could return to schools, enrollment dropped by half due to students deciding to stay in cyber classes. Though 45 5th grade students enrolled in band the year before, only 7 students enrolled that year.
Why did our enrollment numbers drastically change? The COVID-19 Pandemic had a long-lasting effect on band programs throughout the country, not just Wash High. Forced to navigate strict aerosol mitigation, social distancing, and remote learning, programs faced severe participation drops and a temporary loss of the communal experiences central to music education. Other factors attributed include student work ethic and lower school enrollment.
Below are some articles regarding local information and national studies on these factors:
Lower School Enrollment
Washington High School has a lower student enrollment than in the past. In 1998, for example, the school had 614 students enrolled. This year, the school has 387 students, with a number of them participating in the cyber school program. Many programs have been affected due to enrollment numbers, including the arts and athletics.
Lower Band Enrollment
Lower Band Enrollment
Here are studies by Travis J. Weller, the Assistant Chair for the Music Department at Messiah University (PA) and Director of Music Education. He holds degrees from Kent State University, Duquesne University, and Grove City College. He reached out to elementary, middle, and junior high school band directors to participate in surveys regarding enrollment retention. Middle and junior high school bands saw an average retention drop of 8%, with states like Pennsylvania experiencing an 18% decline.
The Effects of Remote Learning
The Effects of Remote Learning
Here is an article written by Phillip M. Hash. The study examines the practices, experiences, and perspectives of elementary and secondary school band directors in relation to remote learning during the Spring of 2020. The data indicated that the shutdown created many challenges for directors, particularly in schools with higher poverty levels and/or in rural locations.
Effects on Student Musicians
Effects on Student Musicians
This article, written by Sadie House, discusses how beginning student musicians lost crucial fundamental skills due to the aftermath of COVID-19. Ms. House is a graduate of Manitou Springs High School, where she was editor of their newspaper “The Muse”. She discovered studies such as from San Diego State University measured the stressors music educators faced, finding that “given the kinesthetic nature of music, it was impossible during the lockdown to administer equivalent instruction and experiences within a virtual format.”
Student Work Ethic
Student Work Ethic
This article analyzes the impact of COVID-19 on student work ethic and reveals a widespread decline in academic motivation, increased procrastination, and a heavier reliance on digital shortcuts. Remote learning created flexible but unstructured habits that clashed with traditional school environments, leading to higher rates of missing assignments and academic dishonesty. In short, some impacted students do not have the drive to participate in music programs that demand time, work, and dedication.
In summary, the decline in the Washington High School band's size is primarily a lingering casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic, which abruptly shattered a period of steady growth. While the high school program initially held steady, the collapse occurred in the vital "pipeline" elementary and middle school grades due to virtual learning hurdles and cyber class transitions. This local struggle mirrors a well-documented national and regional trend, where the kinesthetic nature of music education made remote instruction highly ineffective, resulting in widespread retention drops and significant instructional gaps that the district is now working to overcome.
The Good News is that students not affected by the pandemic are enrolling again in music programs! Numbers have more than doubled in elementary and middle schools. So the next time someone asks "Why is the band so small?", you reply "The Pandemic. But it will be big again soon!"
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