Co-curricular Programs - Visual & Performing Arts

Visual Arts

The art curriculum at High Meadows School is a unique, customized program designed to cover the standard art elements of line, shape, texture, pattern, form, and color as well as basic design principles in projects that meet and exceed state core curriculum standards.

Visual Art instructors at High Meadows design the program using a variety of resources to create lessons rich in content and meaning. Multi-step projects allow several concepts to be explored and reinforced with each lesson. Classroom teachers provide curriculum overviews utilized in planning art projects that compliment classroom units. Our fully integrated approach marries art instruction with history and social studies (art history, time and place, and world cultures), science (color theory, physical and chemical properties of artistic media) and mathematics (shape, pattern, proportion, proximity, perspective, balance, form and organization) resulting in an extraordinarily rich web of learning.

At the Kindergarten/1st grade level, budding artists are introduced to new concepts with developmentally appropriate projects that promote learning by doing. In a project-based curriculum, students come to the art room primed for success. From the beginning of the High Meadows school experience, students are practicing the interpretation of information and concepts in visual, tactile, hands-on ways. Students are also introduced to Art History related to their projects.

2nd/3rd grade students review concepts introduced at the K/1 level with projects designed to challenge their advanced ability. Art History is covered with more detail. All media is explored with higher expectations as to the outcomes. Students are encouraged to problem solve, innovate and use what they know when experiencing difficulty.

All 6th grade students are required to participate in an art fundamentals class. Students demonstrate their understanding of art elements and design principles through a combination of art projects, research based art appreciation, and color projects and a written evaluation. Having successfully weathered this basic class, students then qualify to choose from of a wide range of challenging, custom designed mini-courses offered to all middle years students. Mini-courses include all forms of sculpture (kiln fired clay, polymer clay, wire, paper) drawing and painting in a variety of media (graphite, conte crayon, colored pencil, watercolor, acrylic, tempera, pastels) fabric arts, handmade paper arts, printmaking, you name it! Classes are often designed based on the feedback we get from students and teachers indicating areas of interest.

A low student/teacher ratio further enriches the experience of the young art student and multi-age groupings provide leadership and mentoring opportunities. Grounded in the practice of a project-based curriculum, High Meadows students are equipped to successful execution of almost any visual art project. Students have a particular openness to experimenting with methods and media. The depth of learning combined with the full range of media including high quality art materials, thoroughly engages all students.

Performing Arts:

The Music Program at High Meadows School provides a rich and diverse environment uniquely tailored to multi-age, creative, and independent learners. The program emphasizes active discovery by utilizing a variety of techniques and opportunities. Some of these include: singing, playing instruments, improvising, learning about notation, critical listening, evaluating, and learning about the relationships between music, our history, and modern culture.

Preschool
The Preschool students come to music for 30 minutes every week. The preschool music program at High Meadows reflects the following beliefs concerning the musical learning of young children:

	All children have musical potential.
	Children bring their own unique interests and abilities to the music-learning environment.
	Very young children are capable of developing critical thinking skills through musical ideas.
	Children come to early-childhood music experiences from diverse backgrounds.
	Children should experience exemplary musical sounds, activities, and materials.
	Children should not be encumbered with the need to meet performance goals.
	Children's play is their work.
	Children learn best in pleasant physical and social environments.
	Diverse learning environments are needed to serve the developmental needs of many individual children.
	Providing children with effective adult models.

The preschool music curriculum includes many opportunities to explore sound through singing, moving, listening, and playing instruments, as well as introductory experiences with verbalization and visualization of musical ideas. The music literature includes traditional children's songs, folk songs, classical music, and music from a variety of cultures, styles, and time periods. Play is the primary vehicle for young children's growth, and developmentally appropriate early music experiences occur in our child-initiated, child-centered, teacher-facilitated play environments. Preschoolers are in an environment that includes a variety of sound sources, selected recorded music, and opportunities for free improvised singing and the building of a repertoire of songs. An exploratory approach, using a wide range of appropriate materials, provides a rich base from which conceptual understanding can evolve in later years. A variety of individual musical experiences is important for children at this age, with little emphasis on activities that require children to perform together as a unit.

Kindergarten – Fifth grade
K – 5th grade students attend the music classroom once a week for 45 minutes. Children need group music time to experience the important social and musical aspects of sharing music and making music together. Singing, playing instruments, moving to music, and creating music enable all students to acquire musical skills and knowledge. Learning to read and notate music gives them a skill with which to explore music independently and with others. Listening to, analyzing, and evaluating music are important building blocks of musical learning. To participate fully in a diverse, global society, students must understand their own historical and cultural heritage and those of others within their communities and beyond. Students in grades 4th/5th learn to play the recorder. Children learn how to read and follow a score. Also, the student learns how to interpret musical notation. The student will play alone and with others.

The Lower and Upper Elementary music program at High Meadows reflects the incorporation of the following MENC (Music Educator’s National Conference) national standards:

	Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
	Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
	Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments.
	Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.
	Reading and notating music.
	Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
	Evaluating music and music performances.
	Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
	Understanding music in relation to history and culture.
	Children need effective adult models.

The 6th (after completing Music Appreciation), 7th and 8th graders are offered a choice of Mixed Chorus, or Girls Chorus.

The music curriculum for MY students reflects the following MENC (Music Educator’s National Conference) standards:

	Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
	Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
	Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments.
	Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.
	Reading and notating music.
	Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
	Evaluating music and music performances.
	Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
	Understanding music in relation to history and culture.