The Raider Band Program consists of students from Highland Park Middle School and McCulloch Intermediate School. We offer a variety of band classes to meet the developmental needs of all band students from beginner to advanced.

Beginning Band- Sixth grade is the first year a student is able to join band and see what the Raider Band is all about. In sixth grade, students are able to learn the fundamentals on their instrument through instrument-specific instructional classes lead by an HPISD band director. Throughout sixth grade, students will develop their instrumental skills through a variety of musical performance opportunities, including: three concert performances, a solo performance and a contest performance. At the end of sixth grade, students will audition for band placement for seventh grade.

In seventh and eighth grade, students are placed in one of three ensembles: Concert Band, Symphonic Band or Wind Ensemble. These bands are all ability based and are designed to gradually step the band students into more advanced musical skills as they themselves develop.

Concert Band- This ensemble is the first step each sixth grader going into seventh grade band should organically make. The ensemble is an introduction to full band and focuses on fundamentals and basic ensemble skills. The group plays level 1 band music and does compete at UIL Concert and Sight Reading Contest in the spring as a Sub-NonVarsity Band.

Symphonic Band- This ensemble is the second step for seventh and eighth grade band students who are developing their technique on their instrument and are still working on ensemble skills. The group plays level 1-2 band music and does compete at UIL Concert and Sight Reading Contest in the spring as a NonVarsity Band.

Wind Ensemble- This ensemble consists of the most advanced musicians in seventh and eighth grade. The Wind Ensemble focuses on higher level musical skills including advanced technique, ensemble skills and performs advanced band literature in the grade 2-3 level. The Wind Ensemble does compete at UIL Concert and Sight Reading Contest in the spring as the Varsity Band.