Lakota West High School Instrumental
Music Program
Lakota West High
School
opened in the fall of ‘97 and is one of two
high schools, grades 10 through 12, in the Lakota
Local School District. Located twenty miles north
of Cincinnati in West Chester, Lakota is the 7th
largest school system in the state with a student
population of more than 17,000. The enrollment
at Lakota West is approximately 2,000.
At Lakota West, we pride ourselves on offering
a wide range of quality instrumental experiences,
with the concert program at the core. It is the
belief of the entire music faculty that a well-rounded
education, including challenging musical experiences,
encourages a lifelong love of music, as well as
responsibility and growth in character that continues
into other aspects of the students’ lives.
Elementary. In the Lakota School
District, band instruction begins in sixth grade
at each of eleven elementary schools, meeting twice
per week in heterogeneous groupings. For the past
several years, approximately 800 students per year
have joined the instrumental music program.
Junior High. At each junior high
school -- Hopewell, Lakota Ridge, Liberty and Plains
-- two directors team-teach two or three seventh
and two eighth grade bands. A seventh and an eighth-grade
jazz band are each offered for one semester. All
groups meet five days per week.
Freshman School. Due to increasing
growth, the Lakota Local School District opened
two new high schools in 1997 -- Lakota West and
Lakota East -- and 
transformed
the original high school into a Freshman School.
Four freshman concert bands, which are divided
by attendance zones for West and East High Schools,
meet daily at Lakota Freshman School. Three freshman
jazz ensembles also meet daily during school.
High School. At Lakota West, Symphonic
Winds (Class AA), Symphonic White Band (Class A),
Symphonic Red Band (Class A) and Concert Band (Class
B) meet daily the entire school year. Jazz Ensemble
and two Jazz Bands also are offered daily for the
full school year. The Marching Firebirds (consisting
of 300 members) is a grades 10-12 co-curricular
class, which is voluntary and meets three days
per week after school. Pep Band and Pit Orchestra
are offered seasonally after school.
A Tradition of Excellence. Symphonic
Winds has received straight superiors in OMEA class
AA since the first year of Lakota West. The
Symphonic Bands and Concert Band have also earned
superior ratings at OMEA district and state adjudicated
events. In 2006, Lakota West became the first school
in OMEA history to have four bands earn superior
ratings at OMEA state contest.
Major Symphonic Winds performances have included:
Dec 2006 - Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago (one of six high school bands chosen to perform)
Dec 2004 - Symphonic Winds chamber groups performed at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, Chicago (the full Symphonic Winds also served as a rehearsal clinic band)
March 2004 - European Tour with performances in Paris, Brussels and London
Feb. 2004 - Ohio Music Education association (OMEA convention)
Nov. 2002 - Capital University New Concert Band Music Reading Clinic
Dec. 2001 - 30th Annual Ohio Band Directors Conference at the University of Akron
Dec. 2000 - Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago (one of just five bands in the nation chosen and the first ever from the Cincinnati area)
Apr. 1999 - Music in the Parks Festival, Chicago
Jan. 1998 - Bowling Green State University New Music Reading Clinic
Apr. 1998 - Dixie Classic Music Festival, Atlanta
The Lakota West
Marching Firebirds have earned over 25 Grand Champion
awards since the formation of the school. The Marching
Firebirds have earned a superior in class AA at
state finals each year, as well as a superior rating
at every OMEA marching band competition entered.
The band marched in the 1999 Hollywood Christmas
Parade and at the 2003 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. In
November, 2005, the band traveled to Hawaii to
perform at Pearl Harbor and in the Waikiki Holiday
Parade. In January, 2008, the band will become
the first Greater Cincinnati Area band to march
in the Tournament of Roses
Parade in Pasadena, California.
The Lakota West Marching Firebirds accomplishments include:
- More than 25 Grand Champion awards since the formation of the school in 1997
- Superior in class AA at Ohio state finals each year
- Superior ratings at every OMEA marching band competition entered
- Participation in:
The Jazz Ensemble
received a superior rating at the inaugural OMEA
state jazz contest in 2003. It was also one of
just ten high school groups in the nation invited
to perform at the 2003 North Texas Jazz Festival.
The group also performed at the 2005 Ohio Music
Education Association (OMEA) convention.
Student Growth and Achievement. We
encourage private study and participation in honors
groups. In 2006-2007, 22 Lakota West instrumentalists
placed in All-State honor groups (band, jazz band,
and orchestra). More than 95 percent
of our students participate in solo and ensemble
contest. Many Lakota West students participate
in the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra; Southwest
Ohio Regional Orchestra; Greater Miami Youth Orchestra;
Ohio University Honor Band; Bowling Green State
University New Music Reading Clinic; Tri-State
Honor Band; and Ohio State Honor Band.
Our band program is supported in part by a very
active parent booster group, The Upbeat Club, and
by the Lakota Board of Education.
