Curriculum

There are four components to the Dixon School of the Arts & Sciences Curriculum, including:

Core Academic Classes

Dixon offers a core curriculum in reading, mathematics, writing, science and social studies. Students have two hours of reading and one hour of mathematics daily. These classes are the first two periods every day.

Extended Academic Classes

Our school days are extended by one hour for literacy-based, thematic units that take students on virtual travel tours to different continents. Three to four units are studied during the school year with a focus on Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Each grade level focuses on a country of the continents under study. Students immersed in the culture, geography, language, music, and art of the countries with project-based research and hands-on activities.

Encore Arts Classes

Our arts program consists of dance (ballet, tap, and modern), vocal music, keyboarding, membrane percussion, drill team, and various other expressive and visual arts classes.

Extended Encore Arts Classes

Dixon students attend a variety of in-school and field trip activities to experience live music, art, and dance activities.

Fine Arts Program Details

There is a distinct correlation between art education and academic achievement. Research has identified six benefits that link art and scholar achievement, including: reading and language, math, critical thinking, social-emotional skills, motivation to learn, and maintaining a positive learning environment.

There are four major components of the Dixon art program that sets us apart from other schools in the area. These include:

  • Visiting Artist Program
  • use of professional materials
  • real-world exposure via an abundance of off-site excursions
  • integration of visual and performing arts in the core curriculum

OUR VISITING ARTIST PROGRAM
The Visiting Artist program at Dixon brings local and national artists, professionals in their field, for workshops to provide students with hands-on, immersive experiences. Our visiting artists represent various facets of the art and sciences community, including but not limited to art, culinary, photography, dance, music, performing arts, engineering, and technology.

USE OF PROFESSIONAL MATERIALS

Through our visual arts program, students utilize a variety of materials such as clay, marble, ceramic tiles, wood, pastels, glass, steel, and copper. In the performing arts, Dixon students are exposed to a variety of dance, music, and performing types including ballet, jazz, tap, choir, theater, choral, keyboards, drumming, and steelpan.

REAL-WORLD EXPOSURE

We believe the most lasting educational experiences occur outside the four walls of the classroom. For this reason, we offer many field trips and take every opportunity to expose our students to the local art, music, and performing community. From trips downtown to partake in artistic scavenger hunts, to tours of the myriad of galleries here in our hometown, our students are encouraged to interact with the world around them to develop their perspective as artists.

INTEGRATION OF ARTS INTO CORE CURRICULUM

When we’re not on field trips, art is also woven into the curriculum in the primary classrooms as a means to deepen understanding and provoke interest in core academic subjects. The integration of dance, drama, visual arts, and music into our school curriculum improves learning, memory, reading readiness, conflict resolution, social skills, reasoning, and math proficiency.