Elementary School

Art instruction begins at Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake schools in the first grade where each student receives two forty-minute classes each week. In grades four and five instruction is increased to fifty minutes each week. Instruction is based on the New York State Learning Standards for the Arts as well as the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Fine Arts and Humanities Learning Standards.

In elementary school, children experience a wide variety of art forms including painting, drawing, print making, weaving, 3 dimensional construction and ceramics/clay. Students are also exposed to the historical and social aspects of the visual arts and learn the critical components involved in art appreciation. The Elements of Art and the Principals of Design serve as the foundation for all instruction in elementary through high school.

Elementary art classes are involved in many school-wide projects such as mural construction, hallway projects, interdisciplinary units, and Arts in Education experiences. Students also participate in the annual BOCES art show and may enter other local and regional exhibits and contests.

Middle School

Students continue their art education in the O’Rourke Middle School where they take a thirteen-week art unit in sixth grade, followed by twenty-week units in seventh and eighth grade.

Like our elementary program, the middle school program is a standards-based program. The goal of our middle school program is to develop a lifelong relationship with the visual arts based on first-hand experience in art making. Students will exit the middle school knowing how to create value, respond to, and understand the cultural implications of visual arts. This will be achieved through many different activities including painting, sculpture, art history/culture, computer technology, mixed media and collage.

Middle school students are involved in many building art projects that include wall decoration, display case exhibits, and contest and local exhibits. Some students at this age also participate in regional and state contests and exhibits. In addition, our middle school has a very active Art Club which meets after school once each week.

High School

The foundation course for all high school study is the Studio Two-Dimensional and Three-Dimensional classes. These two one-semester classes meet the requirement for one year of art/music in the high school and prepare students for the wide variety of elective art courses offered in the high school.

Electives are broken into three areas: 2-D, 3-D, and graphics. In these areas students may explore and refine their skills in courses ranging from drawing to sculpture to animation. In high school many students take art electives as preparation for a career in the arts or other related fields such as architecture, advertising, graphic design, and a host of related careers.

At this level our students participate in many local, state, and national competitions and contests. The art department has a very active student Art Club that takes trips to museums and exhibits, and works to beautify the building. Many display case exhibits, murals, and wall paintings in the building are done by this group. Each year in May the Fine Arts department holds a two day Arts Festival, which highlights and celebrates the works of all our student artists in a large gallery setting. At this event the entire gymnasium is turned into a visual and performing arts arena. Entire classes and individual displays may be viewed at this event.

Many of our students continue on as art educators or fine arts majors in college and find that they are well prepared for continued study in the visual arts having completed a very full program of study here at BH-BL.