Mission
Dixon School of Arts and Sciences exists to provide values-based excellence in academic achievement focused on the arts and sciences and to provide creative experiences for its students, their families, and the community.
Vision
Dixon School of Arts and Sciences is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, private school that uses the arts as a vehicle to inspire learning, creativity, and successful problem-solving. Dixon School of Arts and Sciences leverages engagement in the arts to teach traditional academic subjects with a creativity-rich, arts integrated approach. Arts integrated curriculum propels children to participate more actively in their own education, to remember what they learn, and to explore their own creativity.
Dixon Core Values
D.I.X.O.N.
Diversity • Integrity • eXcellence • Opportunities • Nurturing
Diversity
We are inclusive and welcome students from all backgrounds and faiths. We celebrate diversity by acknowledging, appreciating, and honoring differences. We promote good community citizenship through caring, cooperation, and collaboration among our scholars, families, staff, and volunteers. This is demonstrated through responsible, accountable, and service oriented behavior with each other and with our community. Respect is at the heart of our values.
Integrity
Honesty with self and others is the clear, transparent theme exhibited by Dixon School of Arts and Sciences students and all who serve them. Dixon students choose to be trustworthy and truthful, while tolerant of those who differ from them. They are funny, compassionate, and hold deep integrity.
eXcellence
Our school’s student body, staff and leaders all strive for excellence with excellence–defined as learning and working to the best of one’s ability. Students are encouraged and motivated to always give their best effort and push boundaries to learn more and achieve better. The arts and sciences are used to propel learning while igniting a love of learning. Students collaborate with visiting artists to produce works of art, dances, performances, and other creative mediums. Students are empowered to connect their learning by showcasing their talents at school and throughout the community.
Opportunities
Our students’ learning is enhanced through opportunities for participation in live, firsthand, up close and hands-on experiences within both our core curriculum and fine arts programs, Our S.T.E.A.M. driven community partnerships provide creative means for students to enrich and solidify their life-long love of learning.
Nurturing
At Dixon we interact with “Village Mindedness” within a loving and caring, trauma-sensitive culture where all support each other with mutual, clear expectations while honoring the challenges students, their families, and their community have faced. We foster individualized personal growth by meeting each student at their own academic and social-emotional level by providing interventions that are fashioned for their needs.
Educational Philosophy
The primary methods that underlie Curriculum and Instruction at Dixon School of Arts and Sciences include:
Core Values Infusion
Our D.I.X.O.N. core values are the foundation of our arts and sciences-infused approach to teaching and learning. These values are embodied in everything we do (students, staff, and families).
Curriculum Integration
Core instruction in Reading, Language Arts, Science and Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (S.T.E.A.M.) are coordinated with creative self-expression to enhance learners’ competence and confidence. Individual and group learning plans, project-based learning, and authentic assessment together support content-area knowledge acquisition and skills mastery opportunities.
Experiential Learning
Our instructional programming is driven by purposeful learning opportunities such as exhibitions, off-site excursions, and performances designed to inspire each student’s unique gifts and talents. Class time, plus time in the living laboratories of life are combined to create our recipe for success! At Dixon School of Arts and Sciences, experiential learning occurs on multiple levels and it is community-connected. These experiences, designed for practical application, reinforce every student’s love of learning.