Total Arts Program
Orff-Schulwerk music, creative movement, recorder, quelbe music/scratch band, ethnic drumming and dance and theatre arts are all components that make up this comprehensive arts education program servicing Kindergarten through 8th grade. The advantage to this program is that it offers a year round arts experience through diverse teachings.
Interactive Arts for Literacy through Music and Movement
Speech, rhythm, singing, poetry, movement and the playing of instruments are experienced by the student to explore reading, language arts, math, science, and social studies. Emphasizing critical thinking, this program will attempt to develop student's skills and concepts while adopting the idea of spontaneous creative music making and movement through improvisation. The approach emphasizes the development of musical and personal growth and the totality of expression.
Orff Schulwerk: Music for Children
Orff adopts the idea of spontaneous music making, focusing on creative independence. Speech, movement, rhythm, singing, and playing of instruments are experienced to explore language and rhythm, rhythm and melody; and form and improvisation.
Recorder
To introduce music literacy through instrumental study.
Steel Band
To introduce students to the rudimentary skills of steel pan playing while exploring the four basic voices of music, and learning and applying the elements of music theory. The students will learn and practice appropriate techniques such as rolls, right and left hand flams, and right and left hand double and triple sticking. At the end of the program, the orchestra should be able to perform a full simple composition in one key.
Creative Movement
Based on choreographic methods and philosophies of well known, diverse modern dance choreographers, the teachings of movement as creative expression through various techniques and exercises along with improvisation are presented at age level. The program focuses on the kinesthetic approach in academia including language arts, mathematics, cooperative learning and socialization skills. Creativeness is at the forefront of building confidence while the structured class provides the discipline and direction for a successful experience.
Developing an Artistic Eye: Exploring Drama, Poetry and Art through Movement and Self-Expression
This course hopes to instill an appreciation of art forms through intelligent insight, enabling students to develop self-expression and uphold their own ideas in drama, poetry and art through gestural movement, character building, and basic improvisation. Choreographic techniques are used for interpreting these elements.
Dance Theatre: Performing Arts Drama I
The purpose of this course is to enable students to develop fundamental skills in the multiple elements of theatre as a collaborative art. Movement, voice projection, body language, concentration, improvisation and expression will be combined with creative drama activities in experiential exercises. Using a collaborative effort from our faculty, whose varied backgrounds highlight this course description, the students are able to experience those elements on a higher level with a deeper sense of knowledge.
Dance Technique
To offer beginning modern and jazz dance techniques to enhance body mechanics such as balance, muscular endurance, correct body alignment, coordination and confidence as well as to learn a movement language and appreciation for dance as an art form.
Mind/Body Connection for Scholastic Improvement
To introduce relaxation and concentration skills and enhance the student's overall performance inside and outside the classroom this class improves self-discipline, while nurturing sense of care for others and themselves.
Cultural Music & Dance Program
To offer a cultural dance and music program that introduces Virgin Islands cultural dance and music to elementary school children. At the completion of the program, students will be able to identify the various rhythms of quadrille and quelbe music and perform related dance movements to quadrille and quelbe music while incorporating Virgin Islands folk songs.
Art
To introduce basic art techniques using different age appropriate mediums.
Public Speaking / Reader's Theatre
To assist students in developing their oral and written communication skills. Public speaking develops lifetime communication skills that will give students an opportunity to make a variety of presentations and improve their presentational and listening skills while finding their "voices" and using them with confidence. Reader's Theatre has been proven to increase reading literacy, boost listening and speaking skills. Dramatic readings of Reader's Theatre can enhance students' confidence and transform reluctant readers into book lovers.