Arts Block Philosophy

At Orchard House School we believe that studies in visual art, dance, theatre arts, and music lay the foundation for a mature interpretation and a lifelong appreciation of the arts. We provide the foundation through three areas of focus: the influence of the arts on the student, the community around her, and her connection to other communities. Through study and performance the girls’ knowledge and self-confidence grows and is nurtured.

Each Arts course meets for one quarter of the academic year. The quarterly rotation gives our students the opportunity to study, embrace, and apply the material being taught in a more concentrated time frame while continuing their grade-appointed studies.  Arts program courses are designed to support current artistic talents and develop new artistic interests through individual projects, small group projects, and class projects.  Having adolescent girls create alone and then collaboratively gives them the opportunity to share their talents while learning from their peers’ strengths, and raises personal awareness for their own artistic abilities and future possibilities. Individual sketchbooks, choreographed sequences, original music, and monologues are some of the early assignments given to help build individual confidence and competence over a four-year program. Over time, sketchbooks turn into portraits, choreographed sequences become dances, original music becomes a class song, and monologues turn into plays. This style of teaching educates adolescent girls through experience, and it encourages young minds to value the process of the arts as well as the finished product. 

Course descriptions by grade may be seen by selecting each of the following: