Visual and Performing Arts

Starting in Pre Kindergarten, art becomes an integral part of the total elementary school curriculum, recognized by National Standards to be part of the core of quality education. All children in grades Pre K - through Grade 5, receive regularly scheduled art instruction taught by certified visual arts specialists once a week for 45 minutes.  In addition to that time, Art Enrichment classes are offered 3 days a week during after school hours beginning in September and during the month of July, in Elizabeth’s Summer Arts Institute.  

Art is an important means of self-expression. The New Jersey Performance Standards for Visual Arts builds opportunities for children to develop innate sensibilities through making and studying art. As students are guided through visual, tactile, and manipulative art experiences, they build important mental constructs. The standards guide development of the students' technical abilities and higher-order thinking skills. This sequenced, developmentally appropriate set of standards for elementary art has been designed to develop aesthetic understanding, creative thinking, perceptual awareness, artistic skills and knowledge, historical and cultural context, critical analysis, and connections to other disciplines.

The Visual Arts Skills Matrix provided with these standards lists skills, techniques, and materials that are integrated into content as appropriate (rather than taught separately).

Our well-constructed elementary art program ensures that the students will understand the following skills in Art:  Imagination is important.  There may be more than one answer to a question and more than one solution to a problem.   Answers to a question need not be identical.  Intrinsic satisfaction matters.  Flexibility of thought is critical throughout the course of one’s work.?Personal success stems from the care invested in one's own work and the ability to work cooperatively with others in a dynamic studio setting.

The Middle School Grades 6-8 Visual Arts Standards are designed so that they can be compacted to serve a brief course of instruction each semester.  These units of instruction consist of Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, Ceramics, Textiles and printmaking while continuing the cognitive and emotional growth the students received during their Pre K - 5 school years.  To meet the needs of a wide range of students, art is taught by a certified visual arts specialist with training in curriculum and pedagogy.

Art is an important means of self-expression, self-reflection, and the creation of personal identity. The New Jersey Standards for Visual Art builds opportunities for students to develop an affective, academic, and social ways through the explorations of visual media in their own art making and increasingly rigorous inquiry into art history, contemporary art making and cultural contexts. The standards guide development of the students’ technical skills and higher-order thinking. Aesthetic understanding, imagination, creativity, problem-solving, artistic skills and knowledge, historical and cultural context, critical analysis, and connections to other disciplines are important aspects of these standards.

Form and content cannot be separated. How something is said or done shapes the content of the experience. Personal success stems from the care invested in one’s own work and the ability to work cooperatively with others in a dynamic studio setting.

Building on the educational outcomes of the Visual Arts in elementary and middle school education lends to extensive programs at the high school level. In Grade 9-12 art courses such as Drawing, Painting, Ceramics, Photography, AP Art History, Ap Studio Art and Sculpture prepares students for personal development in the arts. The construction of a body of work becomes instrumental in admission to higher education and professional development as the students prepare for future careers.

The New Jersey Standards for Visual Arts builds opportunities for students to grow in affective, academic, and social ways through the explorations of visual media in their own art making. Following a comprehensive introduction to the Visual Arts, students demonstrate rigorous inquiry into specific disciplinary fields of study. The standards guide development of the students’ technical skills and higher-order thinking. This sequenced, developmentally appropriate set of standards for high school has been designed to develop aesthetic understanding, creative thinking, artistic skills and knowledge, historical and cultural context, critical analysis, and connections to other disciplines.

The Elizabeth Public Schools offers the finest in Performing Arts programs and instruction. Our Pre K students learn music through movement and song. In Grades Kindergarten through Grade 4 our students have the opportunity to study General and Vocal Music, continuing their musical education through song and movement and extending their knowledge in studying the music of the various cultures of the world, music notation and playing the recorder. In Grades 5 through 8, the Elizabeth Public Schools offers our students the opportunity to expand their performance opportunities in Chorus, Band and Orchestra. Students at the Terence C. Reilly School #7 also have the opportunity to study Dance and Theater in Grades 2 through Grade 7.

Our High School programs offer students the opportunity to continue hone their performance skills in Chorus, Orchestra, Concert Band, Symphonic Band, Jazz Band, Marching Band, Guitar, Piano Lab, Dance, Drama, Music Technology and Music Theory/History.

The Elizabeth Public Schools also offers a three day a week After School Arts Program for students in Grades K through 8 and a Summer Arts Institute for Grades K through 12 where students are able to enrich their studies in the Performing Arts.

With two New Jersey Model School of the Arts winning schools and multiple award winning ensembles throughout the District, the Elizabeth Public Schools demonstrates their commitment to the education of the whole child through its dedication to the Arts.