1. We believe that parents are our most important partner. All parents want their scholars to be successful in school and their support and collaboration multiplies our teacher’s effectiveness and their child’s success.
2. Literacy is an essential element in Kindergarten for fostering ambitious, self-regulated readers and writers. Therefore, Dixon School of the Arts has a brain-friendly, language-intensive, fun filled learning environment.
3. We provide rich experiences in art, music, dance, drama and storytelling to motivate their hearts and minds into the learning process. These experiences in educational arts promote creativity and higher-level thinking skills which is how a young brain learns best.
4. We develop social-emotional intelligence which supports our scholars being successful in school and in life. In Kindergarten we model appropriate interactions so they learn to make good choices in multiple social settings.
5. We purposefully accelerate the language which leads to thinking and oral communication and fluency.
6. Dixon School of the Arts believes that a genuine, caring and nurturing bond with each scholar creates a safe emotional environment. We model the behavior that teaches our scholars to use respectful language, to be kind and helpful.
7. We celebrate each child! We believe that a classroom decorated with the scholar’s art, writing, good behavior rewards, academic rewards, art awards, Dixon Dollars and the Dixon Store gives our scholars a sense of belonging and a positive learning environment.
8. Differentiated instruction is very important. Scholars differ in skills, experiences and backgrounds they do not learn the same things at the same time in the same way. Therefore, we adapt the curriculum for those scholars who can excel at a faster pace as well as those who may need additional help.
9. Play! Play! Play! Our scholars need to play outside daily as the weather permits. This fosters the development of the whole child.
10. Exploration! Our scholars are encouraged to explore, examine, ask question, and engage in discussions. We believe that the classroom is also outside the four walls of our school building. Our scholars attend events and go on amazing field trips. They are exposed to the art museums, the ballet theater, the opera, The Science Center, Big Lagoon, Country Time, The Pumpkin Patch, world renowned artists and dancers and more. We also have monthly guest speaker so they see lawyers, doctors, entrepreneurs, and pilots that look just like them.