Our Mission & Philosophy

SCAFA will provide an educational program in which all strands of the Arts, Dance, Music,Theatre & The Visual Arts will be integrated across an aligned standards based curriculum. In addition, each student will be provided in-depth study of each of the individual art strands. The following components will be stressed: Artistic Perception, Creative Expression, Historical and Cultural Context, & Aesthetic Valuing infused within the academic program will be the principles of the National Technology Standards. Technology offers the means to enhance the artistic, scholarly, production & performance of the fine arts goals. Used effectively technology can extend the reach of both the art form & that of the learner. We believe that an emphasis on the arts education benefits both the student & society as awhole.

It benefits children because it cultivates the whole child, gradually building many kinds of literacy while developing intuition, reasoning, imagination & dexterity into unique forms of expression & communication. This requires an active & trained mind & utilizes the principles of multiple intelligence. Art education helps society in that it promotes understanding of the human experience both past and present. It also helps children explore, understand, accept & use ambigUity & subjectivity. In addition, while the arts in & of themselves have awonderful intrinsic value, their contribution to education reaches beyond. As students learn to identify, appreciate & participate in art forms they also learn to imagine, create & reflect.

This process promotes the development of both verbal & nonverbal abilities necessary for positive school progress in all academic areas. In addition, the intellectual demands that the arts place on students help them develop problem solving abilities & thinking skills such as analyzing, synhesizing & evaluation. Numerous studies point to aconsistent & positive correlation between substantive education in the arts & student achievement in other subjects & on standardized tests. Acomprehensive, articulated arts education program also engages students in aprocess that helps them develop the self esteem, self discipline, cooperation & self motivation necessary for success in life. The arts have emerges from the educational reform movement as avital partner in the continuing effort to provide our children with aworld class education. Research on multiple intelligence indicates that by learning and practicing the arts, the human brain actually rewires itself to make more & stronger connections. The arts stimulate body awareness, creativity & astronger sense of self.