Week of November 16, 2026
Marching rehearsals
Monday, Nov. 16th to Thursday, Nov. 19th during homeroom and w-hour all band students from Wildcat Band, Concert Band, Varsity Band, and Wind Ensemble will be together for outdoor marching rehearsals. Students must report to the band room to retrieve their instruments and proceed outside to set up. Please watch the weather forecast and dress appropriately for the weather and your comfort. All students must wear athletic shoes for marching rehearsals, example: shoes that would be good for gym class. Do not wear sandals, Crocs, Ugg Boots, slippers, slides, heels, or other non-athletic shoes for these rehearsals.
Holiday Parade Volunteers - URGENT!!
The next event that we need assistance with is the Oshkosh Holiday Parade (November19th). we still need lots of help!. Please take a moment to visit our Volunteer Sign-Up to contribute to your student’s success!
Some positions have been filled. We are still in need help with the following THIS WEEK:
Water Donations
These positions will donate 24-36 bottles of water for dinner.
Dessert Donations
These positions will donate 24-36 dessert items for dinner. These can be homemade or store-bought.
Pizza Serving: 3:45-4:45pm
These positions will serve pizza, dessert, and beverages to students. We’ll also need help at the end of dinner to clean up.
Uniform Distribution: 4:30-5:30pm
These positions will assist students in finding uniforms and hats.
Uniform Collection: 7:45-8:30pm
These positions will verify that students have hung their uniforms up properly and put the hats back on the shelves.
Holiday Parade — November 19th
Each year, all students in our four bands combine to perform in the Oshkosh Holiday Parade. This is a required performance for all students in Wildcat Band, Concert Band, Varsity Band, and Wind Ensemble. Find information about attending/watching the parade on the Discover Oshkosh website.
The uniform for the parades is as follows:
All students will wear their marching uniform jacket, pants, and hat provided by the school. Students are responsible for providing long black socks and all-black shoes. Shoes that are not all-black will be made all-black. Expensive and/or fancy shoes are unnecessary! Find a pair of cheap all-black shoes that will last all four years at Walmart, Target, Goodwill, or your favorite local store. Students with financial difficulties should contact Mr. Singer or Mr. Wilson for assistance. (Students will not board the bus or be able to perform without the proper attire.)
The weather forecast is looking favorable for this parade! The uniforms were fit with a little room so students can wear thermals, sweatshirts, Underarmour, or the like. Please do not wear anything with a hood as that will make the jacket bunchy. Please dress appropriately for the weather, over dressing will cause you to be too warm, underdressing will lead to being too cold. Check the forecast, it is looking mild (warm for this time of year).
Oshkosh Holiday Parade Schedule for Students
Students report to the O-Room after school. Students should not leave the building. Bring everything you need to school that day so you are ready.
4:00 Dinner (pizza provided) in the O-Room
4:25 Instructions/Reminders
4:30 Dress, Load Trailer, Load Buses
5:15 Buses Depart West High School
5:30 Arrive, Unload, Warm-up
6:15 Parade Begins (OWHS Band is #24)
7:30 Load Buses
7:45 Depart Downtown Oshkosh
8:00 Approximate arrival at West High School, unload trailer, and return uniform
BAND-O-RAMA — DECEMBER 12
We are excited to continue our tradition of having all 800+ district band students perform at Band-o-Rama!
This year’s performance will be on December 12th at 6pm in the Oshkosh North Field House. Due to fire code, each student we are asking each student to bring only 2-3 audience members. Please let us know if you’d like to bring more, as we may be able to accommodate that as well.
Due to the magnitude of the performance, we will have a required rehearsal in the field house prior to the performance. Below is the high school schedule for the day:
12:40 pm Arrive at North and report to homerooms
1:00 pm 6-12 rehearsal
1:30 pm 7-12 rehearsal
2:00 pm Combined Wildcat, Spartan, and Concert Bands rehearsal
2:30 pm Combined High School rehearsal
3:00 pm Combined Wind Ensemble and Varsity Band rehearsal (Wildcat, Spartan, and Concert Bands students dismissed)
3:30 pm Wind Ensemble and Varsity Band students dismissed
5:30 pm call time to homerooms
6:00 pm Performance
Concert dress is as follows:
Please choose from the following items. Each item must be ALL-BLACK in a semi-formal style.
ALL-BLACK button-down shirt
ALL-BLACK polo shirt
ALL-BLACK sweater
ALL-BLACK blouse
ALL-BLACK dress
ALL-BLACK skirt
ALL-BLACK dress pants
Please pair long, calf-length ALL-BLACK socks, ALL-BLACK dress shoes, ALL-BLACK leggings, and/or ALL-BLACK hosiery as appropriate.
Please note that the following items do not fit in the dress code: t-shirts, hoodies, sweatpants, jeans, shorts of any kind, tennis shoes, crocs, flip-flops, sandals, or slides. Students dressed improperly will not be permitted to perform.
Families who need help acquiring any uniform item should contact the directors for assistance. We NEVER want students to miss an opportunity due to financial hardship. We can help with advance notice!
BASKETBALL PEP BANDS
Basketball season will be starting next month and that means we begin our second pep band season! Call time in the West band room is 6:30, and we’ll move to the gym around 6:45, and we’ll begin playing before the Varsity games around 7:00, depending on the timing of the JV game that precedes the Varsity game. For most games, we expect to play for pregame and halftime. We expect the halftime performance to be over between 8:00 and 8:15. Find our full performance schedule at www.oshkoshwestbands.com/calendar .
When we play halftime, students may sit in the student section or pep band section during the first half but should be back in the pep band section with two minutes left on the clock before halftime to prepare for the second performance. The uniform for these games is West or blue and white gear or the student section theme.
There are two A games, two B games, two C games, and two D games. Each student is required to perform at minimum of one of each letter. Students will choose one A, B, C, and D. As always, students are highly encouraged to come to more than the minimum! The more students we have performing at each Pep Band event, the better (and louder) we sound.
Each performance is a demonstration of musical skills by the students. Since band is a class and performances are a part of the learning process as well as graded public demonstrations of skills learned, attendance and participation at each performance is expected, required, and graded. If a student must miss a performance, we do have opportunities for students to make-up the missed points. The procedures can be viewed on this page on our website.
Students who are participating in a school-related activity (game/match/meet/etc.) during BOTH pep band performances of the same letter (both A games, both B games, etc.) are excused. This may include being on the team playing while we perform or on a team that has an away event during our performance. To be excused, students must fill out this form on our website prior to the beginning of the performance.
Again, to be excused, students must have SCHOOL-RELATED (clubs, athletics, other...) conflicts for BOTH options. If they aren’t SCHOOL-RELATED conflicts for BOTH events, they are not excused.
If you have to miss BOTH games of the same letter for a non-school-related conflict, you can view make-up procedures here. Please contact Mr. Singer with questions.
Required Supplies
Please make sure that your student has their required supplies so that they are successful in band. Some of these items get used up and will need to be purchased again. Please check with your band student to see if they have all of the required items for their instrument. See the complete required supplies list on our website.
Grading and Make-Up Procedures
Are you curious about how grades are determined? Click here for more information!
Do you have to miss a pep band performance? Students who have a school-related activity are excused from the pep band performance. Students missing for any other reason must make up the performance to gain the points. Students wishing to be excused for a school-related activity should fill out this form prior to the date of the performance.
Do you have to miss a concert or parade performance? All students missing a concert or parade performance for any reason must make up the performance to earn the points.
View make-up procedures here. Please contact Mr. Singer with questions.
Upcoming Events
Click on each event for more complete information!
