The Arts

Cultivating public poise and joyous self-expression

At Langley, the performing arts aren’t just for the exuberantly extroverted. Through our renowned music and drama programs, we give all our students countless opportunities to discover, sharpen, and share talents and passions they may not even realize they possess.

Students begin music lessons in preschool. Drama classes begin in fifth grade, and every fourth- and fifth-grader learns an instrument and plays in the band or strings group. Public speaking is woven into the curriculum. In Primary and Lower School, students share regularly at assemblies with their peers. In grades 3-8, students are engaged in presentations sharing their learning with their classmates in nearly every unit. In Middle School, students can play in a band or string ensemble, sing in the chorus, and take part in two dramatic productions each year. Students  contribute to every aspect of these performances – from acting and set design to lighting, makeup, and pit orchestra – they also have leadership opportunities as student directors or crew captains.

Seeing, exploring, and creating multiple perspectives

At Langley, visual art means more than creating beautiful images. To us, art is a vehicle for critical thinking, discussion, inquiry, and problem solving. From preschool through eighth grade, children study and create a wide variety of works and genres to delve into art’s deeper meanings and master the process of making their own original creations.

Guided by expert teachers who are artists themselves, children learn to notice the specific details of each piece they examine, and to think and speak critically about the principles of art and design. Students also build skills in comparison and contrast that transfer to other disciplines as they move from one grade to the next.

In kindergarten, children create self-portraits as fairy tale characters. By first grade, they’re studying and making abstract art to explore their own imaginations and develop conceptual thinking. In third grade, every student creates a three-dimensional museum filled with original works. Middle School students grow in technical skill and intellectual sophistication, as sixth-graders dive into infographics and surrealist collages, seventh-graders explore interior design and stop-motion video, and eighth-graders take on 3-D computer graphics, logo design, and multimedia  presentations.

Working in natural-light-filled classrooms in our Pirro Studios building, fully equipped technology labs, and inspiring outdoor spaces, students take constructive risks, give and receive responsible criticism, and pose thought-provoking questions. And whether they become visual artists themselves, or channel their creativity in other directions, all Langley students grow as agile thinkers and inventive world-shapers.