Blueprint for Tomorrow: The Importance of the Arts
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Blueprint for Tomorrow: The Importance of the Arts
A Message from ACS Superintendent, Monique Flickinger
Dear community,
Last month, I had the absolute pleasure of watching our High School students perform in “The Addams Family” musical. From the moment I walked into our auditorium, I was transported to a delightfully spooky and kooky place – the stage set was remarkable, the lights and music were haunting, and the characters completely came to life with impeccable costumes, hair and makeup. Witnessing the dedication, confidence and artistry of our students and the outpouring of support from the audience that made this production happen was truly moving.
At ACS, we believe in empowering students to go beyond academic achievement and offer programs and activities that extend students’ curiosity and growth past the classroom. With the Arts being on our pillars, music, drama and visual arts programs provide an essential platform for students to develop critical skills for the future, including public speaking, organization, collaboration, resiliency and social-emotional balance and well-being.
I’m so excited that the facilities on our new campus will allow us to elevate our student experiences to new heights in practicing their craft, whether it’s playing an instrument in an individual practice studio, singing in an acoustically balanced choir room, delivering lines from an expansive stage or being inspired to paint in a mixed indoor-outdoor art classroom.
Exciting New Spaces Support Unlimited Imagination
With purposeful design, the new campus has both traditional and flexible use spaces that can support students in their discovery, practice and mastery of the arts. Housed within the Middle/High School building will be a 650-seat theater/auditorium with a professional stage and dressing rooms. With ample performance space for students to continue to create outstanding productions, the stage floor was purposefully designed with a sprung floor, providing some degree of bounce and flex upon impact to help protect performers from injury, especially in dance.
Our Black Box theater provides yet another area for performances. The seating in this room is not predetermined, but flexible, allowing it to change depending on the vision of each production. The room also will be painted black so that any side can convert to a backstage area. This simple, unadorned space encourages creative lighting and production and helps audiences focus on the performers. With a blank space with no spatial hindrances, students have no limits on their imagination and artistry.
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But it’s not just the theaters where students will be able to perform. Throughout the campus, we’ve incorporated flexible-use performance spaces that can be used in a variety of ways. The grand staircases in both the Elementary School and Middle/High School buildings were designed so students can be both audience or performers. Even our mini-amphitheaters in our KG classroom spaces are designed so our youngest learners have a space to create, perform and listen.
Our musicians will find a home in the professionally designed choir and band rooms, where each space is professionally outfitted with proper acoustics, efficient space planning and effective storage. Additionally, there will be multiple practice rooms and music recording studios that are equipped with top-of-the-line equipment, both sturdy enough to hold up to student use while still providing advanced technology so students can explore and create.
ACS artists also can delve into a variety of creative work in bright, indoor-outdoor workspaces with better shelving and increased access to a variety of art supplies and resources. With three art galleries, students from all divisions have the opportunity to exhibit their latest creations with spaces able to showcase a variety of artistic mediums, including digital, painting, drawing, sculpting and more. These dedicated exhibit spaces located in both the Elementary School and Middle/High School allow our students to display their art for longer periods of time.
With the evolving relationship between art and technology, we intentionally placed our secondary art classrooms in close proximity to the tech innovation center. Not only will this maximize collaborative areas, but students can also experiment with blurring the boundaries between the realms of arts, technology, computer science, design, fabrication and more.
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The Arts are Essential to the Whole Child
When planning for the expansion of our facilities, our entire leadership team carefully considered the needs and experiences of our student artists and performers. The arts provide critical foundational learning for students, helping them find their passion and providing an opportunity to learn skills that will positively impact their futures regardless of their path. Going beyond entertainment, participating in the arts creates an environment where students can develop intellectually, emotionally, socially and physically with the following:
- Communication: By learning and practicing verbal and non-verbal expressions of ideas, students improve their real-world communication skills, including articulation, voice projection and persuasive speech.
- Self-confidence: Performing for an audience, trying new things and taking risks in their art teach students to trust their ideas and abilities.
- Collaboration: Curating an amazing art exhibition, performing in an ensemble at a winter concert or acting in a play, students learn how to effectively combine creative ideas and abilities together.
- Concentration: Practicing and performing develops an intentional focus of mind, body and voice.
- Better Cognitive Abilities: With engaged neural activity in practicing the arts, students stimulate and train the same part of the brain that deals with understanding language.
- Imagination: The arts provide a safe outlet for trying new things, interpreting material in expressive ways and making creative choices.
- Problem Solving: Often faced with unforeseen circumstances, students learn the ability to adapt to continue with their show, production, exhibition or piece.
- Empathy & Tolerance: Performing pieces from different situations, cultures and time periods promote compassion. Recognizing others' perspectives and caring about their needs can pave the way to creativity and boost problem-solving.
With all these reasons and more, the arts continue to be a pivotal pillar in our whole child educational philosophy. Seeing our hopes and dreams for our students become a reality is truly humbling for me. If you were to walk through the new campus now, you can see the grand staircases and imagine a class production in front of parents. You can see the auditorium taking shape and envision yourself sitting in the audience watching your child perform. You can see the mini-amphitheaters in kindergarten where our youngest learners start building confidence and presenting skills. You can even see the outlines of the art galleries and music rooms starting to come to life.
I look forward to sharing more updates with you after the winter break as we continue on our journey to our new campus.
Warmly,
Monique Flickinger
ACS Superintendent
