Mission Statement
The core subject of music is for every child, and every child can be successful. The curriculum is designed to provide many different types of experiences to allow each child to discover his/her musical interests, talents, and potentialities and to develop the skills, appreciation, and love of music that will continue for life.
"We help children through music. We don't just teach it!"
Philosophy
The arts are recognized by the Massachusetts Common Core of Learning, as being an essential component in the total development of each child. Nationally, the Goals 2000 educational reform, approved by both the 104th Congress and President Clinton, and NCLB also includes the arts in the core curriculum. In 1993 the Massachusetts State Legislature voted into law that the arts were to be a core subject, alongside math, science, social studies, and language arts.
The United States Senate passed it’s bipartisan Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Every Child Achieves Act in 2015. The Falmouth Public Schools concurs with national and state leaders in declaring that aesthetic knowledge is central to the development of the well educated child. Believing that mastery in music is a sequential, life-long process, the Falmouth Public Schools is committed to providing every student with a comprehensive music curriculum that promotes artistic learning, exploration, and expression.
Students need direct, participatory experiences with music in order to develop music literacy and skills, understand how musicians make aesthetic choices, and interpret, create, and express.
Active engagement in music and an interdisciplinary curriculum contributes to the development of holistically educated students who are better able to solve problems, use their imaginations, develop critical-thinking skills and enjoy life. These experiences also provide students with cognitive and affective skills with which to explore and understand more about themselves and the world.
Music education takes into account the various learning styles inherent in each child. It serves as a catalyst to facilitate non-traditional modes of learning. Students learn by doing. While gaining knowledge, students develop a multiplicity of skills by working collaboratively, being judicious risk-takers, and benefiting from mistakes. Students also strive toward higher levels of achievement, become self-motivated learners, and derive great pride and satisfaction for all that they have achieved.