The marching band rehearses Monday/Wednesday/Friday during class, and Tuesday/Thursdays from 4:00 to 6:30 pm. There are a few Saturday rehearsals that are held from 9:00 am to 4 pm, with an hour lunch break. Please see the full RV instrumental music calendar for those dates.

The marching band plays at Ralston Valley's home football games, which take place at the NAAC (North Area Athletic Complex). The NAAC is located near the intersection of 64th Ave and Hwy 93. The band performs the National Anthem before the game, plays pep band music in the stands during the 1st, 2nd, and 4th quarters, and performs their halftime show. The band will meet at RV, then ride the bus TO and FROM the football game; please arrange transportation for your student to/from Ralston Valley. The band boosters do NOT provide a meal on football game days, so please have your student make arrangements to eat before/after the game, bring a snack, and/or money for the concession stand during 3rd quarter when they have a break. We typically need some volunteers for football games – a couple of trailer drivers and some pit/props and uniform help. There is an entrance fee for parents/siblings and other spectators for the games (set by Jeffco Athletics).

The Marching Band performs in numerous competitions throughout the Fall, and all are mandatory. The competitions take up a good portion of the day or afternoon/evening. Check the RVMB website and CutTime messages frequently for details, schedules, maps, volunteer needs, and more! Detailed schedules for competition days often do not come out until the week of the competition, so please be prepared to be flexible on these days.

Transportation is provided TO and FROM the competitions, so please arrange your transportation for your student to/from RV. Drop off and pick up times at RV vary depending on the time of the event and can be unpredictable.  Competitions may be a one-and-done format, or a prelims/finals format. There is typically an admission fee for spectators, and sometimes there is one fee for prelims and another fee for finals (or a discounted rate for both). We can never make guarantees about whether our band will make finals or not, so the choice to buy a combo ticket is yours. Some competitions have concessions available. In the past, some competitions have accepted cash only, some credit cards only, and some either.  will communicate as much information as we have available for each competition as it approaches.

When the Band has a long event and/or it goes over one or more mealtimes, the Boosters will provide a meal (some days more than one!). The Boosters typically provide the main course and ask parents to donate the fruits/veggies and extras. These details will also be communicated as each event approaches.

We need a lot of volunteers to help make our Marching Band program successful. For each competition, we typically need 2-3 trailer drivers, 2-3 uniform helpers, 5-10 hospitality helpers, and up to 25 people for the pit/props crew. Some of this help is before/after the events, some during, some on the field, and some behind the scenes. Be watching for the specifics for each event.  We use SignUp Genius to make sure these events run smoothly and we have all our “jobs” covered.

Please know that on competition days, some things can change last-minute; in that case, Ms. Watts will ask the kids to send parents a text message with the updates.

Every fall, shortly after school starts, the Marching Band participates in a “retreat” – Band Camp at the YMCA of the Rockies. The students miss classes for this retreat; Ms. Watts submits a pre-arranged absence form on their behalf. Band Camp is usually held from Thursday to Saturday. **Please note: for 2025, Band Camp is being held Wednesday through Friday, September 10 - 12.** The students should bring all of their luggage to the band room before school on the day of departure, then will load up the trailers/busses after school, depart for the mountains, and work hard on putting the finishing touches on their show. They will also have plenty of fun and band bonding time! There is a $250 student fee for band camp, payable through the Jeffco Student Fee site, since it is a district-sponsored trip. We typically need 2-3 volunteers for this event (trailer drivers and chaperones); these individuals are invited to stay at the YMCA during band camp (room & board is covered for volunteers). There is typically plenty of free time for the volunteers for working remotely or enjoying the Colorado outdoors!