It
is a pleasure to introduce you to Marblehead’s Fine
Arts programs. The Fine Arts Department is proud of its
strong reputation. Thanks
to the talent and dedication of the arts faculty, along
with the long-standing support from our parents and town
community, the arts remain vibrant, evolving, and distinctive
within the Marblehead Public Schools.
As
a department, we are always striving to improve programs,
be it revisiting content, looking at broadening class offerings
and experiences, or reflecting on teaching and learning
practices. We
are a group of educators interested in reaching out to
other arts collaborators -- colleagues within the department,
faculty in our schools, artists-in-residence, and “community,” including parents, townspeople, educators from other
schools, and museums.
Parents
are key arts collaborators who help us
in profound ways. A number of parents sit on Boards such
as Arts Council, Enrichment Committees, and PTO’s. Their
work influence and expand the arts programs throughout
the district. These committees work diligently at bringing
artist-in-residences and performances into the schools
to augment and enhance curriculum connections and to expose
all our children to rich and diverse arts experiences. Faculty
feels fortunate and inspired to be able to include these
curriculum opportunities to our students.
We
hope the Fine Arts web site helps you to get to know
us better. We look forward to hearing from you, seeing you in the schools,
and at our exhibitions and performances throughout the
school year. For the benefit of all our
students, pre-k through 12th grades, it is important
that we keep the arts “alive and well” in Marblehead. We
believe our commitment to the arts, and the evidence one
sees in the schools and throughout this web site, help
shape our identity as a department and as a school system. The
arts are deeply rooted within the school system. They have been in place long before many
of us arrived in the schools and our greatest legacy will
be in nurturing them along the way.
Beth
Delforge
Arts
Curriculum Director
Marblehead
Public Schools
Our
Mission
Our
mission is to provide a comprehensive and quality program
that enables students to express ideas and emotions through
dance, music, theatre, and visual arts. Our goals include
helping students develop and expand their abilities to
create, perform, and reflect on their artmaking, to develop
their understanding of cultural and historical connections
to the arts, and to apply and enjoy the arts throughout
their lives. We also believe in the importance of having
students participate in a culture that fosters exploration,
experimentation, and artistic communication, to publicly
exhibit and perform one’s art, and to work with teachers
who are life-long learners as artists and arts educators.
“The process of studying
and creating art in all of its distinct forms defines
those qualities that are at the heart of education
reform in the 1990’s – creativity, perseverance,
a sense of standards, and above all, a striving for
excellence.”
Richard W.
Riley
Former U.S.
Secretary of Education |
