My eigth-grader is continuing with band in High School and I am going to have to upgrade his trumpet. What are some good brands/models to look for and which ones to stay away from. He has been playing for 3 years now.

There are so many good brands out there, and there are just as many bad brands.
What I would suggest you do is go to your local music store with your son and let him try out some trumpets.
Your son has a student trumpet now right?
Your son could either upgrade to an intermediate level trumpet or professional level. Most intermediate trumpets are really just student trumpets that are silver and have an attached third slide ring, so they are really not worth it, I would suggest just going right to the proffesional level. But there are some trumpets that are classified as intermediate that I believe are right on par with proffesional level horns. Some examples would be: The Kanstul 700, Getzen 700; these horns would be cheaper than a proffesional horn but are still a great investement.
Some proffesional level horns would be:
Bach Stradivarius; I have this horn, I upgraded to it last year from a student Yamaha. If you get a Stradivarius I would suggest that you get a used one the is atleat 10 years old, the reason is that there was a strike at the Bach factory and the consistancy of quality on thier horns have gone down, they just don't make Stradivarius's as good as they use to, but older Bachs are great, I definetly recomend this horn.
Yamaha 6335
Yamaha Xeno
Getzen 900 Series
Conn Vintage One
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Threre are many others, just have him try as many trumpets as he can.
Hope this helps.

I have a Bach Strad and I love it.

King is also a good brand to look into. The King Silver Flair is probably the cheapest and one of the best intermediate horns out there. Yamaha makes excellent intermediate horns, I believe theyre called the Allegro series (4335). Bachs are good but like the person above said, the consistency is questionable.

Hi there. Brands is really a loaded word..it's just something to label the horn with. Your son has to try out some horns of all different brands to find out what suits him. I do play on bach stradivarius trumpets and schilke brands. Bachs are inconsistant nowadays but they are still great horns. If you were to try out 5-10 different ones you'd definetely find something that's outstanding. Other brand names to consider or try out are kanstul, schilke, and yamaha xeno's. Have him try out all these different kinds. Have him try out all the different professional models that you can get your hands on. Make sure when he's testing them he's doing it with his eyes closed because he may be attatched to a certain brand name. Make sure to do the blind fold test and hand him the instrument and have him play them. Then eventually narrow the horns down with the blind fold on. Remember when you buy a horn you want something to satisfy your own aural concept.

What's your priority? How much does he love it? What kind of sound does he have and does he want?

The Yamaha is the best all-around performer and there are several price ranges. I still have and play the one I got in 1971. Schilke is a top horn, as well as Giardinelli. Getzen is an old standby that isn't bad, and of course Benge has been an amazing sounding horn from the beginning.

My D, C, Eb and piccolo trumpets are all Yamaha, but I also have a Giardenelli and a Benge Bb to compliment the Yamaha Bb I have. My four-valve flugelhorn is a Getzen, but I also have a Yamaha three-valve. The sounds are somewhat different, like the difference between a sour mash and a single malt.

Really, the best thing to do is take him in and let him spend a couple of hours test-driving as many as you can find. Make sure he understands that this is going to be the one he's going to be "going steady with" for many, many moons. Find one that fits him well, and one that doesn't make him work to blow a nice clear long tone. It should be a horn that he can move from upper to lower register and back without the intonation sliding all over the place.

Don't know if this helps at all. I wish you all the best. This is like looking at a prep-school at his level and could make the difference for him on whether he goes to "college" or not.

how much do you want to spend?