King Open parents are starting a new after-school theater program like the one at Graham & Parks. The Globe featured the plans for a new King Open theater program in a story this past weekend.
I saw "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" at the G&P a year or so back and if the KO productions come close to this one, it means some serious acting experiences for kids and audiences. At G&P, the kids acted/sang the whole Broadway play, built amazing sets, the whole nine yards.
This new program will enhance an already robust arts curriculum at KO where art projects often tie in with something being studied in humanities (History/English). The 3/4s traditionally put on skits during the Renaissance Fair and the 5/6 classes put on a full-length play by Shakespeare. The K curriculum routinely includes art in class. (I still have the cardboard costume my son wore as the ladybug in his classroom production of "The Grouchy Ladybug" because I can't yet bring myself to throw it out.)
That's not even mentioning all the mural projects the entire school--kids, staff, parents alike--has worked on. Just drive by KO on Cambridge Street and you'll see what I mean.
Of course, any discussion of the arts K-8 has to include the Peabody School, which adopted a Kodaly music program. Boston Magazine featured the school's program in a 2005 article.
District-wide, CPS expanded art classes downward to include 1st grade about three years ago. Next year, the proposed budget would expand music at the 7/8 level by eliminating general music to offer more choral/instrumental opportunities.
Other town/cities are having to fight to retain or restore arts at the elementary level. (Newton is one example featured in the papers recently.) In Cambridge, thankfully, the trend has been the opposite.
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1 comment:
You write very well.
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