CHILDREN’S HOUSE PROGRAM
Kindergarten art classes meet once per week for 40 minutes in our Art Room. For the Academy students, this program is integrated within the Children’s House program and the Art Teacher is a resource for the CH teachers. Our program follows all North Carolina State and National Standards for Art Education as well as incorporating Montessori methods and principles in every lesson. Students will begin to learn about, understand and apply the first 4 Elements of Art (Line, Shape, Color, Texture) to their work. They will experiment with different media and tools, explore their own visual language and creativity, all while learning how to negotiate the studio setting. Kindergarten work is periodically displayed on the bulletin board in the C building and will seasonally be visible through a Google slideshow visible in the Main Office. Once taken down from the boards, all work is returned to classrooms for students to take home.
ELEMENTARY PROGRAM
The Sterling Visual Arts Program follows both the NC State and National Standards for Art Education as well as incorporating Montessori principles in all of our lessons.
2D and 3D projects are explored in all elementary classes. We will use a variety of media and methods such as painting, printmaking, charcoal, clay, collage and found objects, in order to offer a broad experience for each student. We will view, discuss and be inspired by the works of Master Artists both past and contemporary, from many different disciplines, regions and cultures. We will explore our visual language, learn techniques and master tools, building our foundation of knowledge and experience in Art of the past and the present day. Students will learn about jobs and careers associated with visual Art, and how Artists, architects, and designers influence products, packaging and advertisements.
Student work is displayed on the C building bulletin board and rotated as new work is produced. Artwork will also be displayed seasonally through a Google slideshow visible in the Main Office. All student work is returned to students to take home once it comes down from the boards. First through sixth grade students come to art class once per week for 45 minutes.
MIDDLE SCHOOL PROGRAM
The Sterling Visual Art Program follows both the NC State and National Standards for Art Education as well as incorporating Montessori principles in all of our lessons.
2D and 3D projects are explored in the Middle School classes. We will use a variety of media and methods such as paint, printmaking, charcoal, clay, collage and found objects, in order to offer a broad experience for each student. We will view, discuss and be inspired by the works of Master Artists both past and contemporary, from many different disciplines, regions and cultures. We will explore our visual language, learn techniques and master tools, all while beginning to understand how visual art reflects and influences our world. Students will learn about jobs and careers associated with visual Art, and how Artists, architects, and designers influence products, packaging and advertising.
Student work is displayed on the bulletin board and rotated as new work is produced and will periodically be visible through a Google slideshow displayed in the Main Office. All student work is returned to students to take home once it comes down from the boards. Each group of seventh and eighth grade students will meet twice per week for 40 minutes each class.
The music program includes weekly exciting general music classes for K-6 students here at Sterling. These classes involve developing skills in singing, listening, and playing instruments, as well as learning about composers, instrument history, and genres of music.
CHILDREN’S HOUSE PROGRAM
The Kindergarten students come to the music room for a 40 minute weekly class. At this level, we focus on developing steady beat, simple rhythms, and our singing voice. We play rhythm instruments, as well as beginning to read rhythm patterns. We listen and move with many types of music and explore the instruments we hear in our music. The program is integrated back into the children’s house classroom through the music teacher providing music support to the classroom teachers.
LOWER ELEMENTARY PROGRAM
In LE, we continue to develop reading and playing rhythm patterns. We sing a variety of songs, and we accompany them with pitched and unpitched percussion instruments. Through games and activities, we begin learning music symbols and touch on reading the treble clef staff. We learn about the instruments of the orchestra, composers of classical music, and listen to many styles of music.
UPPER ELEMENTARY PROGRAM
In UE, we further develop the reading and playing of more complex rhythm patterns. Students learn to play soprano recorders, and some explore the alto and tenor recorders. Students are supported in their work to learn to read and play from standard treble clef notation. We also study ukulele and learn basic chords and melody playing. Students at this level learn the basics of music composition and have opportunities to create basic rhythmic and melodic themes. In these classes, we also explore music from countries throughout the world, and our 4th grade students attend a symphony concert.
PERFORMING ARTS IN UPPER ELEMENTARY
In the Upper Elementary program, students have the option to join the choral and/or band program. The upper elementary chorus classes meet once a week for an hour. The groups perform on campus throughout the year. The goal of these groups is to provide a comfortable performance opportunity in a large ensemble. Students are taught the foundations of choral performance, and they experience unison and two-part singing. Students perform a variety of music, including folk, pop, holiday, and multicultural music.
The beginning band class is an after-school program that meets twice a week from 3:25-4:30. Students have the choice of learning flute, trumpet, clarinet, alto saxophone, trombone, baritone, or percussion. Students in beginning band follow the Sound Innovations Book One, and through the year develop their skills to successfully perform Grade 1 music. The beginning band performs throughout the year. After successful completion of the first year of study, students are eligible to move into the Sterling Band.
MIDDLE SCHOOL PERFORMING ARTS
The Middle School music program is an elective option for the students. They may choose to audition for the Sterling Stars Show Choir or join Sterling Band if they meet the entrance requirements.
The Sterling Stars auditioned show choir performs several times each year on the campus, as well as in the community. In this group, students continue to strengthen their part singing through traditional show choir, pop, and Broadway music. In addition, students develop sight-singing skills. During the Spring, the choir focuses on traditional choir music and performs in the Carowinds Festival of Music.
The Sterling Band is the second level of band for students in grades 6 – 8 with at least one year of playing experience. Students in this band are expected to finish level two of the Sound Innovations method, as well as learn many pieces of music at the concert Grade 1 ½ - 2 ½ level. This band performs at least four concerts each year and travels each spring to the Kings Dominion Music festival, where they perform music from the North Carolina Bandmasters list for ratings. This group meets three times a week after-school from 3:25 – 4:30pm.
KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM
Children’s House students attend PE once a week for 30 minutes. During class, our goals are to help them with their motor, manipulative and social skills, improve their understanding of boundaries and rules, and to teach them what it means to be a good teammate. We also begin to introduce language that is appropriate for our class – we talk about different parts of the body and learn words for different types of movement and exercises.
Each class begins with a warm up where we typically focus on agility and movement. This is a time when we can make sure the students are shown proper form and technique for our basic movements that we use in all our activities. Most of our games and activities are small sided group activities where we teach the students about cooperation and problem solving. We do a lot to improve our motor skills and manipulative skills during this time- we run, throw, catch, hop, skip, dodge, leap, kick, bounce, volley and more during our games. We encourage our students to be very active and work hard during class, and they always seem to respond well. This is a very important year for us to establish a relationship with our students that is built on trust. We want the Sport Court to be a place they want to be and a place they feel safe during every class.
LOWER ELEMENTARY PROGRAM
Students in Lower Elementary come to P.E. each week for 50 minutes, and they also come for a 35 minute class every other Friday afternoon. Lower Elementary is a very important time for students to practice and grow confidence in all the ways we move around the gym. We are looking for improved balance, form and stronger motor skills that can be used in combination with other skills. We are also looking for improved self control, better cooperation with their classmates and a developing sense of fairness.
Lower Elementary is also a time when we introduce our students to a variety of group activities. We play small-sided games with 3 or 4 students per team and we also play large group games with 9 or 10 students per team. Learning how to work well with others and be a good teammate is very important in our class and we work hard with our students to help them develop a strong foundation during Lower Elementary.
UPPER ELEMENTARY PROGRAM
Upper Elementary students have PE once a week for 50 minutes. Class usually begins with a short warm up where we focus on activities that help our students continue to improve their stamina, balance, eye hand coordination and listening skills. Our activities and games are more complex and faster than those in Lower El. and our games are a bit more competitive at this level. We have both small sided and large group games and we continue to stress working positively with your classmates and respecting the rules of the game. We also place a lot of emphasis on self control. Upper El. classes move fast and we challenge our students to work hard and enjoy the activity for the fun of the game and not to worry so much about the outcome.
MIDDLE SCHOOL PROGRAM
Our Middle School students have PE twice a week for 40 minutes per class. Typically, we begin each class with a short warm up and then move on to our activity of the day. We rotate through a variety of group activities, floorball, volleyball, basketball, indoor soccer, kickball, capture the flag, pickleball, ping pong, team handball- what we call bucketball, as well as other activities. We look for more input from our MS students and ask them to help us decide what we are going to do. We also have free choice days where the students can pick for themselves the type of activity they’d like to be involved with during that class or week. This year we will be having student run classes and we’ll ask the students to organize and run the class for the day.
Sterling Spanish offers a continuous program using the Viva el Español program from grades 4-8. Ms. Sonia will teach grades 4th-8th. The overall objectives of the program are to develop, reinforce, and refine communicative competence in listening, speaking, reading, writing and culture through interactive, hands-on learning. Spanish 1 begins in the 6th grade and is a three year program resulting in a high school credit. Students can choose to continue to Spanish 1 after 5th grade by taking an entrance exam in the spring of their 5th year and passing it with an 80% or higher. Students who choose not to take Spanish 1 will continue their language learning in high school. Any new students in the middle school need to have taken Spanish in the 6th (and 7th) grade in order to test into Spanish 1 and complete the three year cycle.
