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Fine Arts
Fine Arts
Emphasizing appreciation and participation in the beauty of the fine arts.
– Psalm 57
Lower School fine arts Experience
Music
In kindergarten through second Grade, students use songs to worship and take the first steps of music literacy, learning to read and write music using singing, rhythm instruments, hand bells, and body movement.
In third and fourth grade, students explore using instruments, along with voices as tools to enhance worship. Third grade begins a two-year study of violin. This is a great time for students to explore worship beyond the words of a song and make music instrumentally.
In addition to choir, students in fifth and sixth grades can participate in either Band or Orchestra by choosing a string, wind, or percussion instrument. Students are encouraged to invest their talents into performances which glorify God and His kingdom.
Art
Grammar School visual art is a hands-on introduction to the elements of art, various art mediums, and a beginning foundation of art history. Kindergartners through sixth graders attend art weekly, learning the fundamentals of drawing that will carry over to other mediums such as painting, printmaking, photography, and sculpture. Each art lesson features an artist that serves as an example of beautiful art done by a master. Going back as far as ancient Greek and Egyptian art, students look to outstanding examples of art throughout history.
Each grade of art overlaps lessons in the Bible, history, and science that is being taught in the homeroom. While fourth graders are learning about the Renaissance in history, in art class they are learning about Renaissance contributions to art, such as one-point perspective and illuminated manuscripts while creating artwork of these genres. Grammar school art is a colorful walk through the creative process, looking to the order and beauty of God’s world.
Stage Performance
Beginning in Kindergarten, students in the Lower School perform in class and on the stage through yearly classroom productions.
Kindergarten: The Kissing Hand
First Grade: Famous Kansans
Second Grade: Egyptian Performance
Third Grade: It’s a Jungle Out There
Fourth Grade: A Charlie Brown Christmas
Fifth Grade: Living History Museum
Sixth Grade: Fine Arts Day (individual and group performances)
Upper School fine arts Experience
Rhetoric school students are required to earn one fine arts credit each year for graduation.
Music
Students in Logic School and Rhetoric School continue to develop their understanding of musical literacy. They learn to sight read at a high level, while practicing dictation and basic composition skills. Each member of choir is an active learner, responsible for teaching themselves the rhythms, melodies, and lyrics of each song. By graduation, students have developed a life-long appreciation for music.
The Madrigals are a select vocal group that represents CPLS throughout the community. Singing carols during the Christmas season, the national anthem before sporting events, and providing Singing Valentines in February are their trademarks. They are led each year by a Student Conductor.
Art
The focus of the upper school program begins with drawing in the 7th and 8th grades followed by two years of design study in 9th and 10th and then capped off with a semester of art history in the 11th. The program builds on itself, with the knowledge and skills learned in the 7th needed in the 11th.
All students are required to take visual art. CPLS recognizes visual art as a language and like any language it requires continuous practice.
Stage Performances
Middle School Musical (6th-8th Grades)
Middle School Musical (6th-8th Grades)
During the third quarter of the school year, students in grades 6-8 may participate in a full-length musical production. Auditions for this musical include both singing and script reading.
Past Performances
2017—Oliver Twist
2018—Charlotte’s Web
2019—Tom Sawyer
2020—Alice in Wonderland
2021—Cancelled (Covid)
2022—Robin Hood: The Courtship of Allan A’Dale
2023—Narnia
Rhetoric School Drama (9th-12th Grades)
Each fall, students in 9th-12th can audition to participate in a full-length drama or comedy production. Multiple performances span two weekends.
Past Performances
2017—You Can’t Take It With You
2018—Arsenic and Old Lace
2019—The Importance of Being Earnest
2020—The One-Act Play That Goes Wrong
2021—Harvey
2022—The Tale of El Dragón
Rhetoric School Musical (9th-12th Grades)
Each spring, high school students have the opportunity to participate in a full-length musical production, with performances spanning two weekends. Auditions are open to all students in grades 9-12 and include both singing and script reading.
Past Performances
2017—Mary Poppins
2018—My Fair Lady
2019—25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
2020—Music Man Cancelled (Covid)
2021—Variety Show!
2022—Something Rotten
2023—Ruddigore
