Welcome, ECFS families
Music
Department Chair
Tom Christensen | tchristensen@ecfs.org
The Middle School Music Department is designed to provide a well-rounded and high quality music education for students through a hands-on experience. Each student learns to collaborate in large ensembles and perform music on either an instrument or through voice. Our goal is that each student experience music firsthand and develop the skills required to perform and understand a diverse array of musical styles. Music at the Middle School is not only about acquiring a certain skill set but learning to work together in a diverse group toward common long-term goals and developing respect for peers regardless of their ability level.
We are committed to developing students who:
- Understand the basic tools needed to perform music
- Know how to work together toward a common goal
- Understand and learn to appreciate the arts during their time at ECFS and after graduation
- Are able to work well in large and small groups
- Appreciate that music and the arts are essential to a complete education
- Tap into their natural creativity and ingenuity in whatever field they study
Because our School is committed to artistic excellence, progressive education, and ethical learning, our instructional methods include:
- Regular practice sessions for each ensemble
- Sectional work in small groups
- Student input in choosing material and arranging it for performances
- Thorough instruction in music theory
- Class discussions of our music, including historical and social context
- A multicultural range of musical selections from a diverse array of cultures
- An expectation of self-discipline and mastery, achieved through rehearsals and regular practice at home
- Regular written homework
Descriptions by Grade Level
Middle School students have the opportunity to join Band, Strings, or Chorus in 6th Grade. We offer beginning instruction on most common band, string, and percussion instruments as well as voice. 6th Grade music students learn the basics of music reading in standard musical notation.
At the end of 6th Grade they are able to read music in all 12 keys using quarter, eighth, and some sixteenth note rhythms. Students also learn the basics of their instrument or voice such as correct hand position, tone production, embouchure, breathing, and posture. Students are also taught basic musical theory and are able to read common time and key signatures as well as most musical terms. Chorus students also study solfege.
A major part of our instruction is teaching our students to be good citizens in class and to perform well as part of a large group. They are expected to be on time, to be quiet and attentive in class, and to learn to contribute to a strong ensemble performance through practice, good citizenship, and responsible behavior. Students perform in two concerts per year.
In 7th Grade, students build on the basics they have mastered in 6th Grade. They play more advanced music that requires greater range; knowledge of all major and minor key signatures and rhythms in duple and triple meter; and sight-reading in all quarter, eighth, and sixteenth note rhythms.
Music in Band, Strings, and Chorus is divided into more voices and so greater independence is required of the students, including the ability to play solos. Students are expected to know all the fingerings on their instruments, proper tone production, and, in Strings, are learning to shift into the upper positions. Students perform in two concerts per year.
8th Grade Music is a preparatory course for the Upper School performing groups and offers several opportunities for our students that were previously unavailable. In Band, students play more challenging music and are also able to play in Jazz Band once per week. Chorus and Strings students often join the Upper School Chorus and orchestra for concerts. We also feature a newly commissioned composition each year written by a selected composer specifically for our 8th Grade Band.
Students who wish to study electronic music can do so as an elective when they are not in their primary music class. Students who wish to join a non-performing group can take a music appreciation class called World of Music as their primary music class in place of Band, Strings, or Chorus.
Students perform in two concerts per year but often more opportunities to perform are available.
Frequently Asked Questions: Music Department
My child plays piano. Will they be able to continue piano lessons while learning another instrument?
Yes. Playing piano gives beginners on a second instrument a big advantage since they are already able to read music. Adding a second instrument is fun and easy.
Which instruments do you offer in 6th Grade?
We offer beginning instruction on the following instruments: trumpet, trombone, baritone horn, tuba, flute, clarinet, oboe, saxophone, percussion, violin, viola, cello, double bass, and voice.
Can I try out instruments to see which one I like?
Yes, we have a special day in May where you can come up to the Fieldston campus and try instruments. There will be professional musicians there to demonstrate the instruments and answer all of your questions. You will receive more information on this in the spring of 5th Grade.
Do you help with instrument rentals?
Yes, we will provide that information to you over the summer.
My child plays the cello. How will he get it on the school bus?
We provide larger instruments at school for these students to play so they do not have to transport them back and forth to school.
My child has already played clarinet for three years. Will she be in class with beginning students and therefore not adequately challenged?
Some students have studied music prior to entering our 6th Grade program but many have had no instruction whatsoever. We have found that after the first few weeks most students are on the same page and are able to play together easily.
Do you offer electric bass, guitar, or piano?
We no longer offer these instruments in 6th Grade. They are available in 8th Grade Jazz Band.
How many students get into percussion each year?
We take 12 percussionists each year. Auditions happen in early May on the same day as instrument orientation. You can contact Mr. Latzky for more information.
Is attendance at concerts required?
Yes, concerts are mandatory and attendance for the entire concert is required for a passing grade in the class.
What should my child wear to the concerts?
Please see each teacher’s website for the specific dress for each group.
How much practice is required for music students?
We recommend that students practice on the days when they don’t have music class including weekends for about 20 minutes.
Will my child receive a letter grade in music?
Yes, each music student will receive a letter grade in music class starting in the second trimester of 6th Grade.
My child isn’t sure if she/he wants to take an instrument or Chorus. What should we do?
If your child takes an instrument they can also take Chorus as a second music class. This will not significantly change their schedule of classes and is highly recommended by the music department.
Theatre and Dance
Department Chair
Clare Mottola | cmottola@ecfs.org
The Middle School Theatre and Dance Department provides students with the opportunity to participate in all aspects of performing arts in this mission-centered program. Students receive training and experience in acting, dance, directing, choreography, stagecraft, design, writing, and more. The Theatre and Dance Department challenges its members by striving to achieve the highest quality work as a result of an even higher quality process. The department seeks to foster a space in which artists can create, take risks, and explore. The Theatre and Dance Department prides itself on creating work and producing a season that is responsive to the needs and conversations happening in our world as we seek to both join in and propel these dialogues in a contemporary, real-time way.
Middle School Theatre Program
The Middle School Theatre program has a place for everyone. We educate the whole child, turning thought into action from building blocks to technique, original work to student-centered projects, and inquiry. Theatre nurtures each child’s artistic vision and ambition. The student is at the center, in mind, body, and spirit.
Middle School Dance Program
The core of our Middle School Dance program is creative exploration leading to original dance-making, while simultaneously developing physical skills. Through dance exercises, improvisations, and collaborative choreography, students will strive to inhabit their bodies in a healthy, conscious, and creative way.
Descriptions by Grade Level
Project Arts is an interdisciplinary course encourages students to explore different performing arts disciplines and the creation of original material. Using drama and dance, students explore their own art-making, improvisation, choreography and more! Students learn some of the foundation vocabulary that is used throughout the Theatre and Dance Department.
The course is built on:
- Collaboration
- Creating original work based on an existing or original story
- Integrating three disciplines of the Performing Arts (theatre, dance, music)
- Learning how to be a good audience
- Improvisation
- Storytelling
- Utilizing a goal onstage
- Creating and experiencing theatre in a non-traditional way
- Character development
Students focus on an introductory approach to acting by learning basic vocabulary and applying it to several exercises. Actors work in pairs as well as larger groups to generate work, which uses a technique that is based in Practical Aesthetics — a method that is used throughout our program.We focus on:
- Collaboration in smaller groups
- Introduction of specific acting technique and vocabulary
- Listening skills
- Developing the ability to remain receptive to new forms and approaches to theatre making
- Continuing to build improvisational skills
- Character creation
- Incorporating the physical life of an actor
- Utilizing a goal onstage
- Applying techniques and vocabulary
- Communicating with an audience
Dance I
In this four-week course, students are introduced to basic dance skills, elements of tempo, rhythm, dynamics, shape, and space design. They begin to explore solo and group improvisation and choreograph short studies. This course emphasizes individual expression through movement and is the students’ first introduction to the choreographic process.At the end of the four-week unit, students will:
- Understand elements of tempo, rhythm, dynamics, shape, and space design
- Develop basic dance skills and body awareness
- Know how to improvise as a soloist and as a member of ensembles
- Create their own solo and group dances
- Develop mindfulness-based awareness of themselves
- Share their work in front of others
All 8th grade courses are designed in a responsive way. We believe that our students’ skills and interests are as important as our departmental commitments. This progressive approach to curriculum building allows us to centralize our students’ artist growth and development while continuing to introduce new skills while building on existing ones.
Acting
8th Grade actors dive into acting technique, advancing their skills while having fun. Students deepen their ability to develop strong characters, analyze scenes, and collaborate with their peers. Students’ work will include improvisation, monologues, and scene work. Additionally, students enjoy exploring the physical body and the ways in which body awareness enhances the actor’s work. Physical work may include: yoga, physical theatre techniques, and theatrical fencing. 8th Grade actors complete their work in an onstage showing of their eight-week experience.
At the end of the 8-week unit, students will have focused on:
- Collaboration
- More advanced, deeper exploration of technique
- Physical approaches to theatre and storytelling
- Introduction to theatrical fencing and stage combat
- Text analysis
- Introduction of scripted work including classical and contemporary material
- Vocal technique
- Monologue study
- Memorization of scripted material
Backstage/Onstage
This eight-week course transforms our 8th Grade students into out-of-the-box thinkers and creative artists in the theatre community. Through exercises in creativity and teamwork, students will be introduced to the different disciplines of theatre which vary by semester but may include: creation and justification of prop items, creation and utilization of sound effects, construction and detail work of various set pieces for the Middle School productions, utilization and basic operation of a lighting board and a sound board, and basic drawings and research for splash panels on a creative theme.
At the end of the 8-week unit, students will have focused on:
- Collaboration
- Utilization of skills of a theatre technician
- Study and experience both the onstage and offstage creation of theatre, with a focus on the work of a technician
- Study and participate in stage management, lighting, and sound
- Explore the structure of a story with a focus on timing, spatial considerations, and stage picture
8th Grade Dance
Students learn a variety of dance techniques while developing strength, flexibility, control, and expression through movement. The course includes improvisation and simple dance making processes that can culminate in a final performance.
At the end of the 8-week unit, students will have focused on:
- Moving through different levels of space with ease and confidence
- Practicing receiving and giving their weight to another dancer in order to create original partnering vocabulary
- Developing a personal solo movement vocabulary through improvisation
- Defining foundational movement vocabulary from jazz and musical theater dance styles
- Collaborating with all members of the class to create a piece of choreography
- Performing their original dance work in front of an audience
- Developing an understanding of dance as an art form
- Recognizing different genres and time periods of music
- Expanding the concept of how music and dance work together
- Synthesizing the elements of composition
Middle School Dance Company
The Middle School Dance Company is a new course for 8th Graders geared toward students with dance experience and a devoted interest in performing. Students must be excited and eager to be part of a creative process that culminates in a school-wide performance. With the help of student input, the teacher of this course will choreograph a group piece to be performed at one of the middle school Town Halls and the Winter Dance Concert.
At the end of the 8-week unit, students will have focused on:
- Receiving and integrating movement instruction
- Developing group awareness
- Processing how a choreographer constructs and conducts a rehearsal
- Editing and refining movement and choreography
- Performing a dance piece in front of an audience
Dance Improvisation
This dance improv class will have students making up movements on the spot. Focusing on a variety of dance styles and music, each class will feature new games and movement challenges that will bring out the unique movement creativity of each student. Duet and group improvisations will be part of the class progression. This course provides a supportive, energetic, open attitude to this space and dig into having fun.
At the end of the 8-week unit, students will have focused on:
- Moving through different levels of space with ease and confidence
- Practicing receiving and giving their weight to another dancer in order to create original partnering vocabulary
- Developing a personal solo movement vocabulary through improvisation
- Collaborating with all members of the class to create a piece of choreography
- Expanding the concept of how music and dance work together
- Synthesizing the elements of composition
Directing
Directors get to tell stories onstage while interpreting scripts and working with other artists, all to bring a piece of theatre to life. Learn about both the creative and logistical process of directing. From collaboration, to leadership skills, to sharing an artistic vision, students in the 8-week course will have the opportunity to be a director! Note, this course will require participants to act in their classmates’ projects.
At the end of the 8-week unit, students will have focused on:
- Collaboration
- More advanced, deeper exploration of technique
- Multiple approaches to theatre and storytelling
- Text analysis
- Leadership skill-building
- Fostering student creativity and storytelling
Improvisation
Have you ever wondered how certain actors get so good at improv and sketch comedy? Find out in this 8-week improv class! Students will learn how to do long and short form improv by experimenting with various exercises, character development and structured theatre games making them ready for anything onstage. Whether you want to build your confidence, have fun, deepen your collaborative skills or learn some new improv techniques, this class is for you!
At the end of the 8-week unit, students will have focused on:
- Collaboration
- An exploration of improv technique
- Physical approaches to theatre and storytellings
- Creative risk-taking
- Bringing a sense of play to performance
- An appreciation for the process of developing material rather than the product
Playwriting Workshop
Take your great ideas from page to stage in this Playwriting Workshop. Students will develop stories for the stage through a variety of techniques and prompts, bringing their voice to life in a brand new short play. Each script will be a part of our Middle New Play Festival, giving writers and an invited audience a chance to hear the work aloud!
At the end of the 8-week unit, students will have focused on:
- Collaboration
- Fostering student creativity and storytelling
- Multiple approaches to theatre and storytellings
- Text analysis
- The use of both dialogue and stage directions to bring stories to life
- Developing students’ ability to tell stories that matter in our community and beyond
Dance Video Project
Boys’ Dance Video Project is an active, student-driven exploration of the new art form of dance video. Students delve into the interaction between the camera and their own, unique physicality. From a theme selected by the students, an original video is developed, rehearsed, and shot. Throughout all phases of this creative process, the spirit and practice of collaboration is fostered.
At the end of the 8-week unit, students will have focused on:
- Video viewing and analysis
- Group brainstorming to decide on a theme for the video
- Movement explorations based on basic principles of dance composition (unison, canon, levels, timing, isolations, foot work, contrast, space
- Movement exploration based on individual skills
- Putting together movement sequences (choreography) based on the theme
- Camera explorations (viewing field, foreground/background, framing, etc.)
- Organizing scenes and video shots
- Rehearsing
- Costume considerations
- Shooting, analysis, re-shooting
- Group decision on how the video ends
Visual Arts
Department Chair
Scott Wolfson | Scott Wolfson
The Middle School Visual Arts program serves as a bridge between the Lower Schools (where students typically work with one teacher in one studio) and the Upper School (where students are able to choose among a selection of elective classes). The 6th Grade classes meet in the Middle School building's Art Room, and the 7th and 8th Grade classes meet in a variety of studios around the campus and work with teachers who are specialists in their media.
The goal of the Visual Arts Department is to encourage students to experience the world — and their feelings and thoughts about it — through the creative media of the visual arts. Throughout students' Middle School experience, we work to strengthen their confidence as artists through the exercise of their art-making and creative decision-making skills. We give structured assignments that put the students at the center of their learning and studio practice. With a few exceptions, we stress working with real materials in the real world rather than working in the virtual, digital world. A curriculum of traditional studio practice across a range of media is offered to the students.
We are committed to developing students who will independently:
- Exercise their art-making and creative skills
- Work with real materials in the real world
- Tap into their creativity in all aspects of their lives
- Explore a range of media across the grade levels
- Explore their own narratives and passions using the media of visual art
- Self-direct their creative path
- Discover how to process their creative mistakes
- Find value in process, not product
- See opportunity in the unexpected
- Recognize that there is no failure in art
- Engage in thoughtful and meaningful dialogue and critique about the work they and their classmates are doing
Because our School is committed to creative confidence, progressive education, and ethical learning, our instructional methods include:
- Demonstrations and discussions
- Group and self-critiques
- Collaborative work
- Encouraging students to consult one another for council
- Exposure to a wide range of artists, materials, and techniques
- Combination of structured and self-directed projects/assignments
- Hands-on projects across the program
Descriptions by Grade Level
This is a course that’s primarily about empowering students to formulate and pursue a creative path of their own making. To help the 6th graders expand their understanding of the creative process, while adult instruction and guidance are certainly available, it’s very likely that the kids would be encouraged to seek support from one another. At this grade level, some of the key areas for growth typically include: detail development, media experimentation, assigning an element of intended meaning, leaning into one’s personal sense of expression, and being open to suggestion.
All 7th Grade students take a set rotation of arts classes and an ethics course during the year. Performing Arts and Graphic Communication classes are also included in the rotation (please see these other sections for more information). The classes meet three times each week. Some courses meet for an eight week session, and some for four.
The two courses in the Visual Arts department are:
Visual Arts
An eight-week introductory course, this class allows students to explore many different materials and processes of art making. Students work on both two and three-dimensional projects, using a variety of media that may include pencil, paint, charcoal, clay, wood and found objects. While working on these projects the students make critical choices about form, line, color, texture and surfaces, and begin to develop a language that allows for positive discussions about art and each other’s work. The class is taught with a good balance between the teaching of technical skills and encouraging creative ideas and narratives that deepen projects. This course meets for 8 weeks.
In this introduction to the Architecture program, the construction of architectural models forms the basis of the class, which is aimed at developing hand skills and awareness of the practice of design. Students learn the use of drafting tools for precise measurement and drawing of geometric forms. They also learn the importance of planning and compromise in the building process. The class meets for four weeks.
In 8th Grade, students have the opportunity to choose the arts they wish to study. The classes meet for 8 weeks, three times a week. Students take three arts classes and one ethics course during the 8th grade year. Courses in Performing Arts and Graphic Communication areas are also offered (please see these other sections for more information). Students choose from among 14 options, ranking 8 of them in order of preference; every effort is made to give them their top three choices, but student should know they could be scheduled into any of the courses they indicate on their sign-up form. The following courses are offered in the Visual Arts Department, subject to enrollment:
Digital Art II
This design class meets in the Fieldston Design Center. It continues to develop the skills needed for design in all areas of media production with tools such as digital cameras and Wacom Tablets. Students explore the basics of desktop publishing, developing the basic skills used in print, animation, and 3D design. Students design, layout, and print individual projects in class using Adobe CC Design Software. Students design T-shirts, animated GIFs, 3D prints, AR, and posters in this course. This class meets for eight weeks.
Graphic Communications II
This design class meets in the Fieldston Design Center. It continues to develop the skills needed for design in all areas of media production. Students explore the basics of desktop publishing, developing the basic skills used in print, animation, and 3D design. Students design, layout, and print individual projects in class using Adobe CC Design Software. Students also have the opportunity to design T-shirts, animated GIFs, 3D prints, and Augmented Reality in this course. This class meets for eight weeks.
Drawing and Painting
Students in this course are introduced to a wide range of media and materials used in 2D visual art. Drawing lessons with graphite pencil, charcoal and India ink are followed by explorations with watercolor on paper and acrylic paint on canvas. Color theory, composition and light source are fundamental skills students will cover. Students will be introduced to drawing and painting from direct observation, as well as painting and drawing from imagination. Students are encouraged to choose and develop their own subject matter as a way to build a deeper understanding of their personal relationship to making art.
Printmaking
This course explores a wide range of printmaking media including: monotype, linocut, styrofoam, drypoint, and silkscreen. Unlike other studio courses, Printmaking produces multiple copies of a particular image. Projects include work with design, color, and composition. Both individual and group projects will lead to a series of finished images.
Pottery Wheel Workshop
This is an introductory class in using the pottery wheel. You will learn how to create a variety of shapes out of clay and how to transform those shapes into cups and mugs. After glazing them, you will get to bring them home and drink out of them!
Hand-Building In Clay
The class embraces ceramic projects in sculptural and functional forms. Pieces are designed considering both structural and visual qualities. Textural techniques and use of color to complement form are among the skills explored in the studio.
Architectural Drawing
In this class, students are introduced to the tools and thinking of architects and designers; it is the extension of the Model Building class in 7th grade. There are exercises in the use of T-squares, triangles, and scale rulers that lead to projects involving two-and three-dimensional design and construction. There may be time for model building.
Photography
This class covers basic technical and compositional photography techniques. You will learn to use a DSLR camera and how to set the shutter speed, aperture, and focus. You will learn to create strong compositions by framing light, shadow, color, pattern, and using the rule of thirds. A few notable activities are making cyanotype t-shirts, experimenting with studio lights and light painting, developing black-and-white film, and making darkroom prints.
Film Lab
Film Lab is designed to explore the creativity made possible by digital technology. Students will concentrate primarily on digital filmmaking, though the class may briefly cover other complementary tools. The focus will be on small and large group-based projects. Students will work together, each filling a variety of roles to complete ambitious assignments. With careful planning and attention to detail, students will learn that their finished product can often be greater than the sum of its parts.
Sculpture
In 8th grade, sculpture students will use materials such as wire, cardboard, wood, plaster, paper mache, wax, modeling materials, and found objects. Projects will be constructed, cast and modeled. Students will explore concepts of line, plane and mass to create representational and abstract sculpture. Emphasis will be placed on creating imaginative, personal work.
