High School, Art & Architecture

Students are exposed to a wide variety of introductory courses. These courses are available after school in the Art Studio, four days a week, from 4:45pm to 5:45pm. These include Drawing and Painting, Ceramics, Fashion Design and Sewing. Other courses offered may include Architecture, Digital Photography, Sculpture, Stained Glass, Jewelry Making and Book Illustration.  Students will learn and explore the basic Elements of Art (Elements: Line, Shape, Space, Color, Texture, and Pattern) and Principles of Design (Principles: Balance, Unity, Rhythm, Proportion, Color Interaction and Relationships).

By joining each after-school art course, students dramatically improve their creative development as the skill sets learned and acquired in each course overlap and enhance one another.

* Students seeking admission are required to submit an Art Assessment Test.

** The Art Assessment Test is given in the 9th grade during the second semester.

** Prerequisite for 11th Grade - AP Studio Art (The Breadth Sequence).

The Pre-AP art course is the first part of a three-year program, which will help students acquire knowledge that is intended to lead to a mastery of skills related to the Elements of

Art and the Principles of Design. In this course, students will maintain an active sketchbook and journal and learn how to use a variety of media and illustrative materials. They will gain a historical knowledge of art by studying facets of art history and exploring artistic reference. Current trends and inspiration in the art world will also be included in their studies. Museum and gallery trips are planned.

The goal of this course is to prepare students with the required foundational knowledge and skills necessary to enter the 11th Grade - Advanced Placement Studio Art Course.

[4/5 Periods Per Week]

** Prerequisite for 12th Grade - AP Studio Art (The Concentration Sequence)

Advanced Placement Studio Art is designed for students who are seriously interested in the arts and hope to earn college credit and/or Advanced Placement status while still in high school. It is a distinctive and rigorously demanding course of study which teaches students how to elevate their creative process, critical thinking, investigative skills and “student voice” in preparation of effectively completing The College Board requirements of the AP Studio Art Exam administered at the end of senior year.

The AP Studio Art Exam consists of a student-developed body of successful artwork which will be submitted in a portfolio comprising three sections: Quality, Breadth, and Concentration. The culmination of the student-produced artwork during the school year is aimed at targeting each of the three portfolio exam sections.

This class covers the Breadth section of the AP Studio Art Exam, which focuses on variety – variety in Subject, Concept, Technique, Media, Style and Approach.

[4/5 Periods Per Week]

** Prerequisite: 11th Grade - AP Studio Art (The Breadth Sequence)

Advanced Placement Studio Art is designed for students who are seriously interested in the arts and hope to earn college credit and/or Advanced Placement status while still in high school. AP Studio Art is a distinctive and rigorously demanding course of study which teaches students how to elevate their creative process, critical thinking, investigative skills and “student voice” in preparation of effectively completing The College Board requirements of the AP Studio Art Exam administered at the end of the school year.

The AP Studio Art Exam consists of a student-developed body of successful artwork, which will be submitted in a portfolio comprising three sections: Quality, Breadth and Concentration. The culmination of the student produced artwork during the school year is aimed at targeting each of the three portfolio exam sections.

This class covers the Concentration section of the exam. Students create a body of work based on a “central theme" focusing on a process of investigation, growth, and discovery. Students are required to attend to their sketchbooks, and continuously explore and research their Art Assignment topics so that they may develop the vital skills of “risk taking” and “sustained investigation.”

[4/5 Periods Per Week]