Dear Lake Highlands Band and Parents,

It is with tremendous excitement and a huge sense of duty to your legacy that I introduce myself to you as the new Director of Bands/Fine Arts Coordinator at Lake Highlands High School. Though I have taught band at various levels for 18 years, two of the most special years in my career were spent as an assistant band director at LH from 2006-2008. It was during that time that I learned what true excellence from high school musicians looks and sounds like, what your decades of rich tradition represents, and what a unique and wonderful place to raise kids the LH community is. In fact, that feeling was so strong that my wife and I moved into Lake Highlands five years ago and are now raising our own children here; they are all future Wildcats! 

Outside of my family, there is nothing in my life that brings me greater joy than sharing my passion for music with students and using band as a vehicle to teach what it takes to commit to something greater than one’s self in the pursuit of excellence. I have been fortunate over the years to be able to share this pursuit with many students and see them realize the fruits of their labor. This has resulted in building the band program at my last school, Highland Park High School, into one that enjoyed high levels of competitive success at the state and national level. While those competitive successes were gratifying and are things that I am certain we will achieve together at LHHS, the biggest reward came from the individual relationships, student to student and teacher to student, and learning how much everyone was willing to invest in each other for the good of the group and how much more we all have in common than we have differences. Those relationships are the true rewards, and I truly can’t wait to form them with each one of you! 

I’m also thrilled to tell you that we have hired our new assistant band director, Claire Pittman. Ms. Pittman is a 2010 graduate of Lake Highlands HS and was one of my students at LH from 2006-2008! She is a graduate of TCU and has spent the last five years teaching at Killian Middle School in the Hebron Cluster of Lewisville ISD, before which she taught at New Braunfels HS for two years.. In her time at Killian, the KMS Band has been the Texas State Honor Band (state championship) and performed at the acclaimed Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago. Ms. Pittman also brings significant DCI experience as a performer and faculty member, so she will be a huge addition to our great staff with Mr. Singleton, Mr. Smit, and Mr. Martinez all returning!  

I have already begun getting ready at the band hall and will be around all of next week and then again the week of July 5 through Summer Band. If you’d like to drop in and say “hi”, I’d love to meet you. I also am available if you’d like to work on anything on your instrument; just email me at reagan.brumley@risd.org and we’ll set it up! I am here to serve you starting NOW, and I can’t wait to embark on this journey with you. Please reach out anytime if I can be of assistance.

Thanks,

Reagan Brumley- Director of Bands/Fine Arts Coordinator 

Lake Highlands HS