Lower School Creative Arts classes help students become more visually and aesthetically aware. Students learn the basic art elements and the language of art, and they grow in their appreciation of art. They gain confidence and skill in using two-and three-dimensional art materials and become familiar with the work of various artists and with the beginnings of art in the Western world. Guest speakers, visual presentations, and museum visits enhance the program.

Lower School Dramatics: through improvisations, pantomimes, theater games, puppetry, play-making and playwriting, as well as seeing professional performances, boys learn to express their intuitive dramatic insights and gain appreciation for the work of classmates and professionals. Each grade focuses on a body of literature as the source for dramatic activities.

Grade 1 - fairy tales, fables, folk tales, and contemporary children’s literature;

Grade 2 - Greek myths;

Grade 3 - King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable; and

Grade 4 - stories from Shakespeare and Shakespeare’s theater.

Lower School Music students are actively involved with the elements of music through singing, listening, moving, creating, performing, and evaluating. They explore the process of building ensembles through an adaptation of Orff-Kodaly techniques and the use of instruments. They are exposed to various styles of music performances and receive beginning recorder instruction.

NOTE: In grade four, boys choose among three music classes: Lower School Select Choir, Lower School Strings, and Lower School Creative Music.

Lower School Select Choir —Boys in grade four who share aptitude for and interest in singing study the performance and notation of music and develop vocal techniques in the choir. They learn the rudiments of singing and sight-reading through principles developed in Anglican choirs through the centuries. The boys lead singing in chapel, and participate in the St. Mark’s Choir.

Lower School Strings —Boys choose an instrument, violin, viola, cello, or string bass, and learn basic playing skills and music theory through group instruction. Instruments may be rented from the school, and there is a performance by the strings group in the spring.

Lower School Creative Music —Boys learn more about music theory and music history. They sing and play recorders during their time in class. The boys continue to build on their work from past years in earlier music classes.

The Middle School Fine Arts program gives students a variety of arts experiences in three basic areas: visual and industrial arts, drama and speech, and music. Students may choose areas of special interest for repeated exposure. To varying degrees, all courses seek to advance students’ growth in initiative, self-confidence, self-discipline, decision- making and teamwork, and all offer emotional release through ordered, non-threatening experiences. Several courses are sequential in nature: Band, Strings, Industrial Arts and Drama. Beginning level courses in these fields are prerequisites for later courses.

Middle School students choose from the following courses according to the instructions given on the Course of Study Planning Sheet. Students in grade 8 must take the one-trimester course, Public Speaking. Students in instrumental music classes furnish their instruments or rent them from the school or local music stores. The majority of students rent instruments from the school, allowing changes in instruments and their size to be made over the course of a student’s musical studies. Rental fees support a fund for instrument replacement.

Though an attempt is made to honor all fine arts selections, it is sometimes necessary to assign a student to a different course than he requests.

The Upper School Fine Arts students are challenged to explore their creative selves through the performing, visual, and media arts. At the core of the curriculum lies the opportunity for students to express those creative instincts that make us uniquely human. The study of art at St. Mark’s includes scholarly inquiry into the history, theory, and style of artistic expression. Performing, visual, and media arts find expression in a variety of programs designed to allow students fully to express and develop artistic talents.

Honors status is offered to students who are juniors or seniors, have participated in the performing or visual arts for at least two years in the Upper School, have demonstrated excellence in and curiosity about their art, and have been nominated by the teacher of the course and approved by the department chairman and the Head of Upper School. It is understood that honors work is above and beyond regular classwork and that honors students will be held to a higher standard.

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