Visual and Performing Arts
Vision
Every student in the East Orange Public Schools is engaged and empowered through a sequential arts education.
Mission
To provide an art education that enables personal, intellectual, social, economic, and human growth by fostering creativity and providing opportunities for expression beyond the limits of language for all students; and to provide accelerated and rigorous instruction and support for the students who demonstrate talent and the desire to train for college admissions as art majors and/or a career in the arts.
Why is arts education vital to every child?
The arts:
- Stimulate and develop the imagination and critical thinking, and refine cognitive and creative skills
- Strengthen problem-solving and critical thinking skills, adding to overall academic achievement and school success
- Develop a sense of craftsmanship, quality task performance, and goal-setting skills needed to succeed in the classroom and beyond
- Teach children life skills such as developing an informed perception’ articulating a vision; learning to solve problems and make decisions; building self-confidence and self-discipline; developing the ability to imagine what might be, and accepting responsibility to complete tasks from start to finish
- Nurture important values, including team-building skills; respecting alternative viewpoints; and appreciating and being aware of different cultures and traditions
- Play a crucial role in improving students’ abilities to learn, because they draw on a range of intelligence and learning styles, not just the linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligence emphasized in the most school curriculum
EOSD Visual and Performing Arts Curriculum
Creativity is a driving force in the 21st-century global economy, with the fastest-growing jobs and emerging industries relying on the ability of workers to think unconventionally and use their imaginations. The state of New Jersey has set criteria for every student to achieve in Arts Education. Here in East Orange, we have structured the Visual and Performing Arts Curriculum in a manner that offers a sequential arts education designed to achieve the goals set forth by The New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE).
Our goals for all students:
- Grades K–2 and 3–5: All students in grades K–5 are given broad-based exposure to, and are provided opportunities for participation in, each of the four arts disciplines. The expectation at this level is that all students attain basic literacy in the content knowledge and skills delineated in the K–2 and 3–5 grade-level standards for the arts.
- Grades 6–8: In grades 6–8, student instruction focuses on one of the four arts disciplines, as directed by student choice. The expectation at this level is that all students demonstrate competency in the content knowledge and skills delineated for the selected arts discipline.
- Grades 9–12: Throughout secondary school, student instruction continues to focus on one of the four arts disciplines, as chosen by the student. By the end of grade 12, all students demonstrate proficiency in at least one chosen arts discipline by meeting or exceeding the content knowledge and skills delineated in the art standards.
