Additional settings for Safari Browser.
Arts Home
At Community School of Davidson, we recognize that innovation and creativity are vital to success in the 21st century work place*, and that studying the Arts goes far beyond learning to paint or dance. Utilizing the National Core Arts Standards* we know that practicing creativity builds self confidence, encourages critical thinking, strengthens student motivation and supports well-being on a variety of levels. Additionally, the arts serve to encourage communication, cultural and historical awareness, strong relationships and connections, and community engagement.
Dr. Ernest Boyer, author of The Basic School, identifies the Arts as an important component of literacy. Boyer defines language as including words, symbols, and the Arts. At CSD, all children are expected to become literate in the written and spoken word, including symbols and the arts. Beginning in lower school, the arts are integrated into the classroom environment as well as stand alone visual and musical art classes. In the middle grades, students can access a broad array of creative options that include performing arts, visual arts, and digital media. As they enter the upper school, additional options include technology, word-smithing, integrated creative arts, and independent study to inspire students to find their passion, engage in innovative thinking, and reach proficiency in one area of the Arts. High school students choose an Arts Concentration to pursue for all four years. This requirement is just one unique aspect of our school that sets CSD graduates apart in today’s competitive college admissions and work-place landscapes.
At CSD, the arts are considered core curricula, working hand-in-hand with Language Arts, Science, History and Math to build well-rounded, resilient, curious students who see education as a valuable opportunity. Through consistent exposure to creative problems, projects and possibilities our students increase their capacity to become great thinkers, listeners and leaders.
Links to supporting materials and references:
*The National Core Arts Standards
*10 Statistics You Should Know About Creativity at Work
How the Arts Support Children Academically
The Community School of Davidson’s Arts Education program encompasses multiple disciplines: computer arts, dance, music, theatre arts, visual arts, and woodworking.
A comprehensive understanding of one or more of these disciplines, as stated by the National Standards for Arts Education along with North Carolina’s Standard Course of Study, are to be accomplished by each student throughout the K-12 program.
The purpose for teaching the arts is to enable students to develop the capacities to create, perform, and respond with understanding, critical judgment, and appreciation of works of art.
Specific areas of development:
- Symbolic understanding: understanding and using multiple modes to represent and communicate ideas and feelings
- Creativity: originality, flexibility, and elaboration in making what was imagined
- Critical thinking: developing and applying criteria and standards for making judgments about quality
- Persistence: sustaining concentration and attention to a task
- Resilience: managing challenges; overcoming frustration and failure
- Achievement motivation: the desire to succeed in fulfilling goals and expectations
- Engagement: absorption in the content, processes and pleasures of learning
The arts are essential parts of the human experience, they are not a frill. We recommend that all students study the arts to discover how human beings communicate not only with words, but through music, dance, and the visual arts.
Dr. Ernest Boyer, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
Source: Arts Education Partnership
