Program Overview
The purpose of the Art Program, K-12, in Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) is to provide every child with a well-rounded, sequential, cumulative, and comprehensive arts education. Through studies in the arts, students will gain essential knowledge as defined by the National Standards for Education in the Arts.
An education in the arts benefits Fairfax County Public School students by helping them to gain powerful tools for:
1. understanding human experiences, both past and present.
2. learning to adapt to and respect other's (often very different) ways of thinking, working, and expressing themselves.
3. learning to express artistic modes of problem solving that bring an array of expressive, analytical, and technical tools to every human situation.
4. understanding the influences of the arts; their power to relate and reflect cultures, the impact of design on virtually all we use in daily life, and the interdependence of the arts with broader worlds of ideas and action.
5. making decisions in situations where there are no standard answers.
6. analyzing non verbal communication and making informed judgments about cultural products and issues
7. communicating their thoughts and feelings in a variety of modes, giving them a vastly more powerful repertoire for self-expression.
A comprehensive, articulated arts education program engages students in a process that helps them; develop the self-esteem, self-discipline, cooperation, and self-motivation necessary for success in life. All students in FCPS, regardless of their background, talents, or disabilities, deserve access to the rich education and understanding that the arts provide.
Mission
The Art Department shares the responsibility of educating our students by exposing them to the arts. Our mission to students at FCHS is twofold:
1. To build a foundation of being able to communicate about the arts at a fundamental level.
2. To create an environment where students can define and solve artistic problems with insight, reason and technical proficiency.
Vision
The Art Department vision includes but is not limited to:
1. Acceptance of the arts as a vital and valuable component of the school community.
2. Recognition of the various types of knowledge and skills within and across all disciplines that the arts encompasses.
3. Relationship of how the arts act as conduits in analyzing structural, historical, and cultural perspectives from various disciplines.
4. Knowledge of how exposure to the arts strengthens learning and achievement by creating well-rounded students.
Resources
FCPS Office of Fine and Performing Arts
FCPS Visual Arts Page
