Essentials at Decatur
Choice arts is a unique opportunity at Decatur because of our diverse essentials offerings. Students receive instruction in all essentials subjects in the K-5 curriculum: Dance, Music, Visual Art, Spanish, and Physical Education. In Jr. High students have the opportunity to dive deeper into subjects where they have high interest. Students participate in PE and two other essentials classes for an entire year. For example, they might have Visual art on MWF and Spanish on T/Th. Each year they reapply for classes and can choose other arts in the following years.
Why do we implement choice arts in Jr. High?
Choice arts is meant to enrich students' experiences as well as increase their agency in their classes. A classroom with students who are highly interested and motivated by one content area leads to more engagement and deeper class discussions. It also allows the students to practice the skill of taking classes with students outside of their homeroom to prepare them for the mixed-age style of classes of the high school structure. This also increases the bond that the Junior High School students feel for each other and our community.
How does class choice work in Jr. High?
The first week of school, students visit each classroom and learn about the curriculum for each class. Students apply for classes by not only sharing their preferences, but also by sharing why they would be a good fit for each class and what skills they are interested in building. Because it is impossible to schedule everyone in their first choice classes each year, teachers do prioritize 8th grade choices. Students who do not get their first choice are noted so that they can be sure to have the opportunity to take their first choice the following year if it is still the same.
Why are parents not involved in the application process?
In order to maintain equity and student voice as our priority, the students apply via google form application each year. Teachers are present to answer questions and guide students. We ask them to reflect authentically on what they want and need as students year to year and write all of their thoughts into their answers. The application has space for students to rank their choices in addition to explain why they chose the classes and what they hope to gain from them. Students are also allowed to ask for feedback on their application after the classes come out. For example, a student may have not explained anything about their rankings and so it is hard to understand the best combination of classes for them.
What changes did we make this year? What might the future look like?
This year we changed the choice arts program to include 6th grade students. While it did give more students agency in their classes, it did increase class sizes for Jr. High arts classes. In the future, we will reevaluate if this is the right program for all of Jr. High.
What other student opportunities can my child be a part of?
Decatur offers a vast amount of extra curricular programming for students to opt-into. For example there are after school clubs like JamClub, the Spring Musical, Yearbook Club, and even in school crew opportunities like Costume Crew, Props Crew, and Set crew. These extra-curricular offerings allow students to opt into exploring more arts throughout their school day.