The Arts

We at I.S.126 believe that the arts play a crucial role in educating students for the world of tomorrow. From an understanding of one's cultural history, to the freedom to create, discover and work in collaboration toward a common goal. The arts provide a unique opportunity for our students to develop beyond the conventional measures of reading, writing, and arithmetic. For us, arts education is a meaning making process that builds life-long learners who are critical, introspective thinkers.

We offer a robust arts program including visual arts, chorus, core music, drama, musical theater, and dance. Each year we have three performances: a winter concert, a collaborative spring musical, and graduation along with a talent show and multicultural festival.

Drama & Musical Theater

The drama department works with the mission in mind of engaging students in the works of the classics as well as contemporary works to help improve student communication skills, comfort with public speaking and experience in collaborative learning environments. Students use plays as an access point to the study of historical periods such as the dust bowl and depression as well as engaging with the works of Shakespeare through Lincoln Center Theater’s Middle School Program.

Visual Arts

The visual arts program seeks to develop basic skills that lay the groundwork for advanced visual arts work at the high school level. Focusing on learning to illustrate, demands development of specific techniques that are foundational to all professional artists. As the year progresses students work on more advanced media such as set design, painting and animation.