Arts

MUSIC

Your child enjoys dedicated weekly music instruction as well as integrated lessons in the course of every school day. She learns and sings the Hello song every morning and the Goodbye song in the afternoon. She experiences music that makes her want to dance and move, music that helps her focus, music that comes from other cultures, music she can make with her own voice and sounds she can make with different kinds of instruments.

ART

Using chalk, paint, yarn, paper, glue, clay, sponges, brushes, your child learns to hold, apply, manipulate, stick, and mold. During 30 minutes of dedicated art class each week and as part of every school day, he develops his personal aesthetic, the fine motor skills he’ll use later for writing, a feel for working with different materials, and the responsibility for cleaning up after a creative work session.

MUSIC

Using sensory materials like the Montessori Bells, your child receives a remarkably sophisticated introduction to musical theory and practice. He plays up and down the bells to make sure they’re in the right order and familiarize his ear with the diatonic scale. He learns to identify different pitches—high, higher, highest and low, lower, lowest—and name them by note—c, d, e, f, g, a, b, c. He begins making not merely sounds but music with rhythm instruments. He also learns how to express musical ideas through movement—connecting physical expression to sound—and to give musical performances.

ART

Your child continues to develop mastery of art materials and tools, receiving lessons now in lines and shapes, color, watercolor, printmaking, weaving, sculpture, and other art forms. Beyond making unselfconscious works of art, she practices purposeful self-expression and creativity. Extended Day students receive an additional 60 minutes of art per week.

MUSIC, THEATRE AND ART

Beyond dedicated weekly arts instruction (e.g., music lessons on rhythm, scale patterns, or pitch; art experimentation in drawing, painting, or collage), the arts are an integrated part of every school day. Your child discovers the connection between imaginative works of art and intellectual curiosity. She renders her observations of animal, plant, and earth forms using artistic materials, turns a math equation into a knitting pattern, or incorporates Mayan symbols on a clay vessel. She also comes to understand the arts as a form of personal and cultural expression that she’s not only able to create but to analyze and appreciate. She will participate in group lessons and team building activities to learn cooperation. And she will use role-play to place herself in other context while developing empathy. She will create theatre based on themes from other academic subject areas and recognize the role of theatre, film, television and other media in daily life.

MUSIC, THEATRE AND ART

In Upper Elementary, students are ready to apply artistic techniques and principles to create more complex and original compositions—in both music and visual arts. Through regular and increasingly sophisticated musical performance and artistic exhibitions, he gains confidence and composure and learns to show proper etiquette and technique. He also learns to recognize different art styles and periods, to analyze and interpret pieces of art, and to form, express, and intelligently defend his own opinions. In our theater program, he will learn to express himself through a broad range of human emotions while developing body awareness and spatial perception. He will use his creativity to collaborate with his peers to produce dramatic works and learn new techniques for performing improvisational skits.

Our Middle School program is constructed to help improve students’ basic art skills in drawing, painting, sculpting, and design. We use a variety of media and techniques to develop students’ creativity and self-expression. Additionally, our students are encouraged to use their critical thinking skills to explore the world of visual language as part of an ongoing conversation about our ever-expanding human experience. Students explore drawing, painting, the Creative Cloud, ceramics, and sculpture. Students are also encouraged to join our fine arts clubs including Art Club, Photography Club, and Yearbook Design.

In the Upper School, students continue to study basic music theory and musical notation. Students are introduced to the ukulele and learn basic strumming patterns and chord progressions. Upper School students enjoy working together to create original works as well as rehearse and learn popular works. Students explore drawing, painting, the Creative Cloud, ceramics, and sculpture. Students are also encouraged to join our fine arts clubs including Art Club, Photography Club, and Yearbook Design.