Art program

Elementary Art Curriculum

In elementary art students create art using a variety of platforms.  Each student has a sketch book to show their progression and individual artistic growth. Instruction is differentiated to meet the needs of each grade level with the use of open ended questions to promote higher level thinking and to encourage the students to think about detail.Student art is displayed around the school and in the classrooms.

Students practice drawing and are taught different types of lines, perspective and proportion of body parts, animals, trees, and landscapes.  Students use  colored pens, pencils, and permanent markers.

Students are taught painting using: water colors, tempra paint, still life, brush strokes, landscapes, portraits, textured painting, finger painting, painting with sponges and using unconventional paint (like instant coffee).

Crafts are created for the holidays. 

Mosaic activities are used to strengthen and enhance student’s fine motor skills.  They plan and design their art piece then later fill in with a variety of materials such as torn paper, magazines, beads, tile, etc.  Mosaic pieces are completed on paper or canvas.

Students learn color and design focusing on lines, shapes, color, texture, proportion, pattern and creative thinking. Clay is used to strengthen and enhance fine motor skills.  Air dry clay is used to sculpt small animals.  Texture activities are used to promote sensory experiences and increase oral language development

Additionally, all elementary students participate in our Parent Staff Council Art Show.  Every other year students create a grade level themed art piece like “The Masters”.  Each grade level is taught lessons on Van Gough, Matisse, Picasso and more. Students applied the featured artist’s techniques to recreate their own art piece which later is displayed at the Art Show.

Middle School Art Program

St. Marks offers a fine arts program through enrichment and elective courses. Middle School students attend art classes weekly. Students have the opportunity to learn about art history and, the diversity of the art world. Students are challenged to learn and use the elements of art and the principles of design. Students demonstrate their knowledge through experimentation with a wide variety of mediums and techniques in numerous projects.

The Art program includes drawing, painting, sculpture and clay. The program is designed to give students the opportunity to build a visual vocabulary as a means of self-expression, while also fostering respect for the art of others. Our specialized instructor pays attention to the students’ process and details of production. Our art program encourages students to broaden their skills of perception by developing and organizing ideas. Art classes challenge students to express their ideas through original artworks using a variety of mediums. Art students solve visual problems in inventive ways. Students begin to think abstractly when creating projects that emphasis process, and teach flexibility and adaptability while being open to endless outcomes.

Our 6th – 8th grade artists have the opportunity to compete in the On-Site Drawing competition through PSIA, at which our students have shown great results. Art students also make and show their art work at the St. Marks Art Show sponsored by the St. Marks PSC.

Middle School Writing

This course meets once a week to prepare students for the increased rigor of pre-AP and pre-IB writing in high school. The focus is on elevating vocabulary and sentence structure, analyzing literature, and writing in proper MLA format both in literary analysis and research papers.