Programs Offered

Fine Arts Programs

The goal of the Performing Arts Department is to cultivate a love of the arts, develop cultural awareness, and foster social and emotional well-being.  We aim to equip students with the knowledge and skills to be able to express and find their own identity through music, and believe that through participation in the arts, students’ capacity to engage fully in the world is realized.   

 

Visual Arts

  • Students in Art classes follow the NYC Art blueprint which includes: media perspective, painting, drawing, sketching and artistic design. Students’ artwork is displayed throughout the building which helps to build students’ self-esteem and school pride.

Music

  • Our curriculum is based upon the Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts through Music, which focuses on five strands: Music Making, Music Literacy, Making Connections, Community and Cultural Resources, and Careers and Lifelong Learning.
  • To best engage students, we integrate the "Bring Your Own Content" approach, where students can pick songs that they want to learn. These songs are vehicles for students to acquire the content, and concepts necessary to meet their own musical goals.
  • Some Units include:
    • What Makes us Musical
    • Rhythmic Notation
    • Music Production Technology
      • Song Form
      • Content Creation
      • Recording, Sequencing
    • The Guitar (Content and Skills)
    • The Piano (Content, Practice, and Skills)
    • Song Charts (Content, Practice, and Skills)
    • Ensemble (Content and Skills)
    • The Blues (Content. Practice, and Skills)
    • Popular Music (Content, Practice, and Skills)

Dance

  • Students in Dance classes follow the NYC blueprint which includes: exploring, creating, replicating and observing dance, students build their artistry and unique personal voice in dance and experience the power of dance to communicate. They will learn the universal language and legacy of expression in every culture.

Regents Level Programs

We offer our students who qualify the opportunity to earn High School credit by taking the following Regents and proficiency courses. By providing these courses in middle school, our students are a step ahead when they enter high school. We have a high success rate for passing these exams, which affords students in the 12th grade to take college-credit courses:

  • United States History & Government

  • Living Environment

  • Common Core Algebra 1

  • Partnerships

Monthly College and Career Readiness Activities

Each month our students are engaged in different activities based on the focus for the month in relation to college and career readiness. All students participate in these activities each month to support college awareness. Last year teachers and administrators decorated their classroom and office doors to highlight the college they attended. This helped to generate excitement amongst students and to open up opportunities for conversations about different colleges and the programs that are offered.

After-School Programs

Grade 8 Science Prep Class

  • To help prepare students for the Living Environment Regents.

C.A.S.A. Program

  • Introduces our students to Theatre by teaching students how to write a script and other aspects of theatre which include acting, movement, voice and scene studies.

Boys-to-Men

  • A character development program to positively impact the lives of our young men. This encompasses mentoring our young men and fostering trips to a host of places which includes and are not limited to: Basketball games, Theatre, and a variety of cultural restaurants.