Anonymous wrote:OP again. In the pre-high-school years, I'm willing to trade off classroom time spent on 'pure' academics in return for substantially more time spent on arts subjects.

I went to a school for the creative and performing arts for part of my childhood -- in a different part of the US, of course. There was daily art, daily general music, daily chorus, daily drama, and daily PE. There was a period in my school day that I could use for instrument practice time. I spent more time in arts classes than in academic classes, and the academics were fast-paced and compressed. But the academics weren't low-quality; the assumption was that the students were bright and capable of learning academics without repetition (and that kids should be pushed to think critically, to write well, etc.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I don't know any local independent elementaries that are 'arts based", and I can see wanting that. However, every independent school I know of in the area offers robust "specials" (a variety of arts, movement,library, language, SEL) that will be head and tails in terms of variety and dedicated time over what is the focus in many public schools, where 'time on academic task" is often the rallying cry. Public schools have traditionally been driven by the year end standardized testing, and draw a direct line between classroom academic lessons and results. This makes sense since students and teachers and whole schools are evaluated by these high stakes tests. Unfortunately, many have lost the long term perspective on the over arching benefits of an enriched early education. Any of the area private schools are going to have many specials and plentiful outdoor time. You may take a closer look at Sheridan, which I believe had outdoor education as a focus during the year (this is an ethos, like arts education) as well as I believe a really fleshed out arts summer camp. I personally wish more schools had driving identities and specialty programs like you seek, but we do have a few around here.

Written like someone who has never had a kid in public school.
My fourth grader's specials in public school per week:
PE 2x
music 2x
band/orchestra/choir 2x (depending on what the child chooses)
art 1x
library/media 1x
Global Studies 1x

The art room in my seventh grader's small private schools is *way* smaller and less stocked, and they don't offer any music beyond the once a week generic music class. There are lots of other benefits for him at his private school, but stating that publics don't have art and music is simply a lie.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I don't know any local independent elementaries that are 'arts based", and I can see wanting that. However, every independent school I know of in the area offers robust "specials" (a variety of arts, movement,library, language, SEL) that will be head and tails in terms of variety and dedicated time over what is the focus in many public schools, where 'time on academic task" is often the rallying cry. Public schools have traditionally been driven by the year end standardized testing, and draw a direct line between classroom academic lessons and results. This makes sense since students and teachers and whole schools are evaluated by these high stakes tests. Unfortunately, many have lost the long term perspective on the over arching benefits of an enriched early education. Any of the area private schools are going to have many specials and plentiful outdoor time. You may take a closer look at Sheridan, which I believe had outdoor education as a focus during the year (this is an ethos, like arts education) as well as I believe a really fleshed out arts summer camp. I personally wish more schools had driving identities and specialty programs like you seek, but we do have a few around here.

Written like someone who has never had a kid in public school.
My fourth grader's specials in public school per week:
PE 2x
music 2x
band/orchestra/choir 2x (depending on what the child chooses)
art 1x
library/media 1x
Global Studies 1x

The art room in my seventh grader's small private schools is *way* smaller and less stocked, and they don't offer any music beyond the once a week generic music class. There are lots of other benefits for him at his private school, but stating that publics don't have art and music is simply a lie.

Anonymous wrote:OP, I don't know any local independent elementaries that are 'arts based", and I can see wanting that. However, every independent school I know of in the area offers robust "specials" (a variety of arts, movement,library, language, SEL) that will be head and tails in terms of variety and dedicated time over what is the focus in many public schools, where 'time on academic task" is often the rallying cry. Public schools have traditionally been driven by the year end standardized testing, and draw a direct line between classroom academic lessons and results. This makes sense since students and teachers and whole schools are evaluated by these high stakes tests. Unfortunately, many have lost the long term perspective on the over arching benefits of an enriched early education. Any of the area private schools are going to have many specials and plentiful outdoor time. You may take a closer look at Sheridan, which I believe had outdoor education as a focus during the year (this is an ethos, like arts education) as well as I believe a really fleshed out arts summer camp. I personally wish more schools had driving identities and specialty programs like you seek, but we do have a few around here.

Anonymous wrote:It was too far away for us, but we were so impressed by the visual arts at the Washington Waldorf School. They also emphasize music and movement at all grades. Has to be a match philosophically, probably, but there are likely few schools that have more opportunities for arts-based creativity. We were looking at high school, but happened to also see the lower school’s work on display and music class during our visit.

Anonymous wrote:Are there any schools in this area that have an arts-based curriculum during the elementary-school years?

I know that the Lab School does, but the school is specifically for students with language-based disabilities.

I've got a child who would really love to have a daily art class in school, and for the rest of the curriculum to be art-based.

I'm thinking visual arts primarily, but other forms of art would be great (for example, a music-based school like the Crowden School in California would be welcome).

Anonymous wrote:Don't think so. Probably because 1) as you can see from this thread, the arts aren't particularly valued in this area, and 2) the area doesn't have a ton of artists and teaching artists living here.