Fine and Performing Arts

Overview   Art Program   Art Shows    Drama Program   Instrumental Music   Vocal Music   Core Knowledge Music

Overview

DEPARTMENT OF FINE AND PERFORMING ARTS
MR. BEN BENJAMIN - DIRECTOR

"The arts have been an inseparable part of the human journey. That is why, in any civilization, the arts are forever linked with the meaning of the term, ‘education’" (National Standards for Arts Education, 1994).

The Massachusetts Arts Curriculum Framework (October, 1999), recognizes the arts as being an essential component in the total development of each child. Nationally, the Goals 2000 educational reform, approved by both the 104th Congress and President Clinton, also includes the arts in the core curriculum. The Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School and the Department of Fine and Performing Arts concur with national and state leaders in declaring that aesthetic knowledge is central to the development of the well-educated child. Believing that mastery in the arts is a sequential, life-long process, we are committed to providing every student with a comprehensive arts curriculum that promotes artistic learning, exploration and expression.

Students need direct, participatory experiences with all art forms in order to develop artistic literacy and skills, understand how artists make aesthetic choices, and interpret, create and express. At BFCCPS, active engagement in the arts (Core Knowledge music, instrumental music, vocal music, theatre, movement, and visual arts) and in an arts-infused interdisciplinary Core Knowledge Curriculum contributes to the development of holistically-educated students who are better able to solve problems, use their imaginations, develop critical-thinking skills and enjoy life. These experiences also provide students with the cognitive and affective skills with which to explore and understand more about themselves and the world.

Education through the arts at BFCCPS takes into account the various learning styles inherent in each child. The arts serve as a catalyst to facilitate non-traditional modes of learning. Artistic training is learning by doing. While gaining knowledge, students develop a multiplicity of skills by working collaboratively, being judicious risk-takers, and benefiting from mistakes. Students also strive toward higher levels of achievement, become self-motivated learners, and derive great pride and satisfaction from a job well done.

The study of the fine and performing arts here at the Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School sets high standards by offering a sound developmental curriculum in which the community of learners works in an environment that encourages creativity, sharing and accomplishment.