Arts Core Program

Arts Core programming incorporates the visual and performing arts into everyday learning across all curricular areas.  Students explore their creativity and self-expression through art, music, dance and drama.

The Arts embody and record human imagination, culture and history. The Arts allow individuals to communicate their thoughts and feelings in a variety of modes, giving them a more powerful repertoire for self-expression.

An education in the Arts contributes to both society and the lives of individuals.  It open avenues for innovation and invention, as well as fostering respect for individual, cultural and aesthetic diversity.

Education in the Arts:

• Encourages an understanding of human experience, both past and present
• Provides opportunities to respond to, create and present works of art
• Fosters an appreciation of multiple perspectives and solutions
• Builds intuition, problem solving and higher level thinking
• Allows individuals to make informed aesthetic judgments
• Provides opportunities for decision making where there are no standard answers
• Develops attributes of self-discipline, the collaborative spirit and perseverance

The Arts are essential to the core of a rich and meaningful education. They lead to interdisciplinary studies involving authentic connections across the disciplines

Music

We learn a lot of things about Music at Virginia Park...

We sing - in tune, melodies and harmonies, traditional music, world music, new music!

We play instruments - Ukulele! Recorder! Rhythm and Orff!

We listen to music - old and new, and learn about the composers, history and origins.

We become musicians - by understanding the components of music and their functions.

We experience - through games, technology, in class, on field trips, in rehearsal and performance.

Come and join us...you just might discover your inner musician!

Drama

Lights, Camera, Action!

Here at Virginia Park School we firmly believe that drama inspires creativity through dramatic play. All students have the good fortune of exploring the drama curriculum in a designated drama space, as well as classrooms and on our professionally lit stage. Drama is taught weekly and is also integrated throughout all curricular areas on a regular basis. Our program includes a variety of puppets, props and costumes that students use to express characters, ideas, moods and stories. Students have the opportunity to perform in class, at assemblies and during concerts. Staff work cooperatively to write unique scripts based on the current school year theme for the winter production. All four art disciplines are showcased in this performance which is collaboration between students, parents and staff. You will find drama everywhere here at Virginia Park. That’s a wrap!

Dance

Movement is one of the most fundamental forms of expression and we love to grow creatively and share together in our dance classes at Virginia Park!

The Dance Program at Virginia Park allows students to explore movement through practical, visual and written experiences. The foundation of our program is Creative Dance which provides a common platform and allows students to further explore movement through other styles including: Musical Theatre, Folk Dance, Jazz Dance, Ball Dance and Hip Hop. Integration of classroom themes and units as well as our School Wide Theme brings meaning to the children's learning and adds to the overall dance experience!

Art

It’s a Picasso!

No, it’s a Monet!

No, it’s a Virginia Park original!  And it’s not the only one!

Our school is filled wall to wall with beautiful pieces of art that our children have created over the years. We value children’s imagination and they are encouraged to express their creativity through visual arts. In an arts core school students learn art history, study famous artists and their techniques, and are taught observation and design skills. Students have the opportunity to work with a wide variety of media, including watercolor, acrylic and tempera paints, charcoal, ink, textiles, clay, oil and chalk pastels, and found materials. Visual art is taught weekly by specialists and is naturally integrated into other curricular areas. Our student’s works of art are showcased in a variety of public venues. We live, breathe and appreciate art!