The Lower School Visual Arts program is designed to help
students develop capabilities for creating, understanding,
and appreciating symbols and images. Students participate
in a wide range of activities to encourage and expand
creative expression, to broaden their understanding of the
arts in a historical and cultural context, and to develop
a personal sense of aesthetics. Sequential instruction in
drawing, painting, ceramics, and printmaking form the core
of materials-based learning. World cultures, historical and
contemporary artists, and stylistic movements are blended
into the curriculum.
In the Lower School music program, students develop
musical literacy through creative participation in individual
and group experiences; gain understanding of our rich
musical heritage and those of other cultures; and develop
an appreciation of the connections between music and other
forms of artistic expression. Incorporated into these guiding
principles are pertinent areas of study as defined by state
and national standards for arts education. These include
listening, creating/improvising, movement, rhythm, singing,
reading and writing notation, playing instruments, and
evaluating and understanding artistic culture.
The Lower School music program offers the necessary time
and space for exploratory play, and provides scaffolding to
guide students toward musical form and understanding.
Creative Movement classes in Early Childhood, Kindergarten,
and Grade 1 introduce the principles of dance movement and
the use of four elements: space, shape, force, and rhythm.
These basic elements of movement provide students with a
limitless vocabulary of movement possibilities, an awareness
of self and each other in individual and group sessions, and
a greater awareness of themselves in relation to the
surrounding space.
Classes begin each year with an emphasis on the theme
of opposites. Through improvisational movement, students
explore the concept of antonyms (light/heavy, fast/slow,
soft/sharp, and enter/exit). An animal theme is also taught
in coordination with stories and fables read in the classroom
throughout the year. Literature comes to life through
movement and the creative retelling of traditional, popular,
and original stories. The program promotes a sense of
accomplishment, discovery, and confidence at a pace that is
both comfortable and challenging.