Arts and Communication 

The Arts & Communications pathway has three distinct emphases: Performing Arts, Visual Arts, and Media and Communications. Students selecting this pathway will demonstrate their talents through community performances, gallery shows or published written works. Courses in Arts and Communications are offered at all high schools.

The Performing Arts pathway includes courses in Dance, Drama, and Instrumental and Vocal Music. Students in dance will learn a variety of dance forms that promote free movement and self-expression. Students in drama will learn to interpret written works through performance and production. Some sites offer instruction in technical theater which includes set design and construction, lighting and sound design, and production management. Instrumental and vocal music courses teach students to create and interpret musical pieces as part of a choir, band or orchestra. There is also an Advanced Placement (AP) Music Theory course that develops the student’s ability to recognize, understand, analyze and describe the basic materials and processes of music

Students in the Visual Arts pathway will demonstrate creativity, innovation and imagination through watercolor, oils and acrylics, pen and ink, charcoal, plaster, clay and computers. Courses range from introductory art and ceramics to digital and traditional photography to studio and three-dimensional art. There is also an AP Studio Art course that emphasizes drawing, painting and sculpture, where students perceive, respond to and analyze commercial art and design, as well as develop competencies in their focus area. Students submit a portfolio of their work for the AP exam and those students achieving a score of three or higher will receive college credit at most colleges and universities.

The Media & Communications pathway includes the areas of Journalism, Yearbook, Film Studies, Video Production, Animation, Digital Media and Oral Communications. Students will produce the school’s yearbook or newspaper, where they learn to design, layout and deliver a finished publication to the student body. They also learn how to gather and capture information in written format, and advertise and sell their product to a target audience. Video production students learn to operate camera equipment, edit visual images and create a finished video product. Student work is featured in high school and public film festivals and competitions.  Oral Communications students are taught how to read, analyze and interpret drama, prose and poetry using voice and body.  Students will learn how to effectively communicate thoughts and feelings to audiences through storytelling, thematic and dramatic interpretations, classic rhetoric, and improvisation. Participants perform outside the classroom at community and school-sponsored events and may compete in regional, state and national speech contests.