Arts Department

At Weston Middle School, the arts rooms are interconnected, not just physically but intellectually. Within the spaces, students switch back and forth between drawing, painting, building, and programming using a variety of materials and processes, ranging from pencil and cray pas, PhotoShop and iMovie,  through woodworking routers and programmable Lego bricks. Concepts also flow between courses- the concepts of trusses learned in Design/Construction is re-visited in eighth-grade Art and  Architecture courses; dramatic structures learned in Drama are re-applied to Video Journalism,  etc.

Students learn that, whatever the medium, the creation of art must answer human needs on many levels- not just the technical but also the aesthetic and social.  As Daniel Pink, in his book Drive, on human motivation ,writes,  “…the secret to high performance and satisfaction—at work, at school, and at home—is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world….”

In Grade 6, students will take 4 courses in a rotation, Art, Drama, Music and Guidance Seminar.

In Grade 7, students will choose from Visual Art, Design Construction, Drama, Robotics and Music.

Students at Grade 8 take four quarters of art electives. In addition, vocal and instrumental music course offerings are available to students, grades 6-8. Class sizes and schedule conflicts may affect availability of some art choices.

Overall, the Middle School arts rotations by grade level will be as follows:

• Grade 6: One quarter each of Guidance Seminar, Music, Art, or Drama in a rotation.
• Grade 7: One quarter of four of the following: Drama, Music, Robotics, Art, or Design/Construction.
• Grade 8: One quarter of four of the following: Scene Study, Acting and Improvisation, Art/Architecture, Drawing, Digital Photography, Advanced Robotics, Dance, Musical Theatre, Design/Construction(Woodworking), Sculpture or Video Journalism.

Art Standards