Students at Graham Road Elementary are actively involved in making music in a comprehensive music curriculum established by Fairfax County Public Schools and the Virginia Music Standards of Learning. Our students perform in at least three concerts per year, including winter and spring concerts and a school-wide International Night program.

In addition to music-making with classroom teachers, head start students receive one 20-minute lesson per week in general music class instruction with the school music specialist. Kindergarten and first grade students receive a minimum of two 30-minute music classes each week. Students in grades 2 through 6 participate in a minimum of two 40-minute music sessions per week. Upper elementary students have the added option of participating in band or string instrument instruction. This year, we are pleased to offer violin instruction for all third grade students.

Graham Road has two choruses: the Fifth Grade Chorus and the Sixth Grade Chamber Choir. The choruses regularly perform for parents, peers, and our business partners. In addition to the GRES choruses, selected students perform at the All County Chorus Festival each May.

The Chamber Percussion Ensemble is a select group of student musicians. The group holds weekly after-school rehearsals and is devoted to the study and performance of new and traditional literature for Orff instruments, as well as percussion music representative of world cultures (including China, Ghana, Zimbabwe, and Latin America).

Fairfax County Public Schools provide opportunities for our students to make field trips to the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and to George Mason University to hear a symphony orchestra in concert. In addition, Graham Road School currently enjoys the benefits of a partnership with the Washington Performing Arts Society (WPAS). As a result of this partnership, students enjoy four in-school concerts, tickets and bus transportation to main stage performances, and the privilege of In-School Artist Residencies.