Everett Public Schools' Arts Vision

Students do the thinking. 
We see this in action in our Arts classrooms when:

• Students are the creators. They make purposeful choices to best express themselves through the arts. 
• Students embrace art as a process. They generate ideas and conduct research in order to bring those ideas to life. They problem-solve throughout design and creation in order to best realize their visions. 
• Students communicate their understanding and skills through both language and action;  they use the vocabulary of art fluently and are comfortable using a variety of mediums. 

Student voice is elevated. 

We see this in action in our Arts classrooms when:

• Students operate as an arts community. They collaborate to produce art and provide each other with intentional feedback to further develop practice and to produce highly refined works of art. 
• Students communicate important and personal messages in the art they create. 

Students are supported. 

We see this in action in our Arts classrooms when:

• Students take artistic risks, revising and refining their understanding of craft along the way. 
• Students set their own goals around developing their perspective and craft. They maintain a growth mindset when faced with challenges. 
• Students have fun; art is a class they look forward to- a place where they are safe to be themselves. 

Students are empowered.

We see this in action in our Arts classrooms when:

• Students produce art with deeply personal meaning, rooted in their worldview, in response to their concerns and/or as a way of more fully expressing themselves. 
• Students learn about a variety of artists and art modalities that act as both mirrors to their own identities and experiences and windows into others. 
• Students embody habits of mind; they do the things real artists do.  

The elementary visual arts curriculum focuses on building art skills, understanding and using elements of art, exploring different media, and finding creative ways to communicate ideas.
I utilize adopted instructional materials from the Art of Education curriculum for each art lesson. Art lessons also integrate Social Emotional Learning (SEL) as well as Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).