The Arts at Stanley
From first marks to a voice of their own.
Across the Stanley journey, children explore, experiment, create, perform and discover more of who they are through the arts.
Creativity at Stanley
Art is one of the ways children make meaning.
At Stanley, the arts are not a break from learning. They are part of how children learn.
Rooted in our British Primary philosophy, arts experiences invite children to follow curiosity, work with their hands, take thoughtful risks, collaborate, make choices and communicate ideas that are uniquely their own.
That begins in Pre-Kindergarten with open-ended exploration and creative play. As students grow, so do their tools, techniques, independence and ability to reflect on their work. By Middle School, students are not simply learning how to make art. They are considering what they want their art to say.
The Arts in Our Curriculum
Creativity with purpose.
Stanley's arts curriculum develops more than artistic technique. Across disciplines and divisions, students learn to express ideas, make purposeful choices, collaborate, persevere and reflect on their own creative growth.
01
Develop a voice.
Students communicate ideas, feelings and perspectives through movement, music, performance, visual expression and design. With experience comes the confidence to make creative work increasingly their own.
02
Create with intention.
Students build skills and technique while making choices about materials, process, expression and audience. They learn to revise, reflect and understand why creative choices matter.
03
Take creative risks.
Art gives students room to experiment, encounter uncertainty, work through frustration and try again. The process builds perseverance, confidence, collaboration and joy in discovery.
The Creative Journey
The studio grows with them.
The materials change. The questions deepen. What remains constant is the freedom to wonder, create, revise and discover a voice of their own.
Pre-Kindergarten
Begin with wonder.
Before art is technique, it is discovery. Pre-Kindergarten students paint, draw, sculpt, build, move, make music, tell stories and investigate materials through their senses.
Open-ended making gives children room to follow an idea, notice what happens, change course and try again. The goal is not a perfectly matched product. It is confidence, curiosity and the joyful discovery that I can make something that did not exist before.
What happens if I try this?
K/1/2
Turn ideas into things.
Exploration expands into increasingly intentional creation. Students revisit artistic concepts over their three years in K/1/2, building skills through visual art, making, movement, music, storytelling and performance.
They begin making purposeful choices about materials and process. They collaborate. They troubleshoot. They discover that a first idea can change, and that persistence can turn a creative dilemma into something unexpected.
I have an idea. How can I make it real?
3/4/5
Make with intention.
By 3/4/5, students have a growing creative toolbox and more independence in how they use it. Visual artists develop technique and personal expression. Musicians compose and perform together. Dancers choreograph. Makers plan, construct, test and revise.
Students encounter artists, movements and traditions from different cultures while learning to look carefully at their own work. They begin moving beyond "Do I like it?" toward understanding why a creative choice works, what they might change and how their work communicates an idea.
What choices will help me tell this story?
Middle School
Develop a point of view.
In Middle School, technical skill and artistic independence meet. Students work across visual arts, theater and music while also pursuing creative interests through electives, clubs and interdisciplinary experiences.
They plan multi-step processes, work through setbacks, give and receive feedback, perform for authentic audiences and consider how artists participate in communities and culture.
What do I want to say?
A Middle School Progression
From the studio to the world.
Middle School Visual Arts names this progression explicitly. As students mature, the lens widens from the individual creative process to the artist's relationship with community and, ultimately, the wider world.
6th grade
The Artist
in the Studio
Build technique. Explore materials. Take risks. Learn how process, practice and persistence shape an artist's work.
7th grade
The Artist
in the Community
Look outward. Consider audience, collaboration and the ways creative work can reflect and shape a community.
8th grade
The Artist
in the World
Bring technique, voice and perspective together while exploring what it means to create and contribute within a larger culture.
Explore the Arts
More than one way to find your voice.
Stanley students encounter multiple forms of creative expression throughout their education. Each offers another language for wondering, communicating, collaborating and creating.
Visual Arts
Explore materials, technique, artistic traditions and original expression, from early experiments in making through increasingly independent artistic work.
Music
Sing, play, compose, listen and perform while developing musical skill, creative confidence and an understanding of how individual parts become something larger together.
Dance & Movement
Use movement as a language through exploration, technique, improvisation, choreography, storytelling and performance.
Theater
Take creative risks, inhabit stories and grow as part of an ensemble through acting, storytelling, collaboration, public speaking and live performance.
Beyond the Art Room
The arts don't stay in the studio.
At Stanley, disciplines frequently meet. A science investigation can become a collage. History can inspire architecture, movement or music. Students create sets for performances, use dance to investigate the human body and connect musical traditions with the people and histories from which they emerged.
These connections are intentional. Children learn that creativity is not confined to a single class. It is a way to research, interpret, problem-solve and communicate what they understand.
The Arts in Community
Creativity takes the stage.
Arts Fest is a Stanley tradition rooted in courage, creativity and the joy of sharing something of yourself.
With roots stretching back to the 1990s, Arts Fest transforms campus into a collection of performance spaces where students are invited to share what they love.
Singing, dancing, theater, comedy, original creations and talents entirely their own all have a place. Teachers become sound engineers, audience members and enthusiastic supporters as students experience the butterflies of taking a risk and the delight of cheering one another on.
The result is something deeply Stanley: a community where a child's interests are worth noticing, their ideas are worth sharing and there is more than one way to shine.
Explore Stanley Arts
Also Explore
Looking for the Library?
Stanley's Library program nurtures joyful readers, thoughtful researchers and lifelong learners through stories, inquiry, curiosity and the discovery of new ideas.
By 8th grade
A voice of their own.
The question is no longer only, "What can I make?"
It becomes, "What do I want to say?"
Come See Stanley