Design, Performing, and Visual Arts

In their Visual Arts classes throughout Junior Kindergarten to 4th Grade, students learn the elements of: Line, Shape, Color, Value, Space, Form and Texture. Throughout each year, projects are focused on giving children experiences with each of these elements, spiraling and returning to elements with new perspective and increasing sophistication over time. Our projects draw inspiration from literature, music, and the observable world around us.  Many are inspired by picture books we read aloud together, especially stories about art, self, emotions, and famous artists and changemakers.  Students explore a variety of mediums, including markers, color sticks, sharpie markers, oil pastels, chalk pastels, colored pencil, watercolor paint, and clay. Students have opportunities each year for their work to be showcased to the larger Hillbrook community at Art Shows, Buddies events, and in displays around campus.

In their Junior Kindergarten through 1st grade Music classes, play, dance, and exploration are the building blocks for music foundations. In earlier grades, students learn about echo, beat, singing in tune, moving with expression and confidence, dynamics, and tone. In older elementary grades, students develop their own musicianship and tap into creativity in music by learning musical notation, music theory, part singing, playing Orff instruments, and begin to hone performance skills and stage presence. 

Throughout their time in Junior Kindergarten through 4th Grade, students have opportunities to perform for families and peers in celebrations like Halloween, Grandparent & Special Friends’ Day, and grade-level events. Older elementary students also play increasing leadership roles in our yearly Spring Concert performance. Students may also elect to join club and afterschool opportunities to further their performance, instrumental and choral learning, taking various roles in short-form performances in our Blackbox Theater or supporting older grades’ shows, learning more challenging choral skills and performing in school assemblies, and more.

Students in 5th and 6th grades undertake an exploration of many mediums in Visual Arts, studying painting, drawing, ceramic, and mixed media. These explorations are designed to expose students to a range and variety of processes and mediums that may inform their selections of electives in the older middle grades. The elements of Art studied in Middle School Visual Art are: Line, Shape, Color, Value, Space, Form, and Texture. And students learn to perceive, discuss, and practice these principles of design: Balance, Emphasis, Movement, Pattern, Repetition, Proportion, Rhythm, Variety, and Unity. 

In Middle School, student work is showcased in yearly Art Shows and students are supported to pursue other Visual Arts opportunities at on- and off-campus events, for example submitting work to external publications, showcasing work in displays on-campus, and partnering with events like Halloween, Grandparent & Special Friends’ Day, Buddies, Cultural Celebrations, and more to make their work visible to the community.

Students in Middle School take an introduction to photography, looking through the lens and capturing real-time moments in classrooms and across campus. Students learn the traditional tools and rules of photography (F-Stops, shutter speeds, lighting, framing, depth, form and more) as they learn to see the world through a photographer's lens to capture amazing moments in action. Students experiment with different kinds of camera tools and editing tools to produce and print large-format images. 

In Middle School, students have an opportunity each year to display their photography in yearly Art Shows, in on-campus displays, and to volunteer for events where photography skills can be practiced in service of community, for example by joining the Yearbook, taking photos at athletic and community events, and more.

With over 3,000 square feet of inspiring makerspace for collaboration and creation, the Hub is the epicenter of making, engineering, and design at our Los Gatos campus. The Hub enables digital music and podcast production, green screen video, digital photography editing, drawing, painting and planning designs, rapid prototyping, sewing, embroidering, woodworking, and digital fabrication, including acrylic cutters, laser cutters, and 3D printers. The barn-like structure provides ample spill-out space for large-scale creation, with a variety of workspaces and room for students to tinker, explore, innovate, and problem-solve.

Students in late elementary through middle school build skills in basic woodworking, the Design Process, and digital fabrication. They can elect to join clubs and to use the Hub afterschool or at lunchtime to further their projects and collaborate with experts and peers. In Middle School, all students take a sampler course in the Hub spaces designed to expose them to a variety of processes and mediums in Design & Making that may inform their selection of electives in the older middle grades. Have you ever wanted to code your own arcade game? Learn to use a 3-D printer? Design and sew your own stuffed animal or a patch for your backpack? Code a robot? 

Each year in late Elementary through Middle School, students have opportunities to grow their skills and display their creations for celebration (and sometimes for sale) at community events. They can put their skills to use for community events and in support of productions like our Spring Musical, the Talent Show, Grandparent & Special Friends’ Day, Halloween, weekly Flag Assemblies and more.

In 5th & 6th grades students have a plethora of opportunities to hone their skills both on-stage and back-stage. Over these two years, students experience a Performing Arts wheel that includes: theater technique, music, dance, and theater tech. Students can elect to join clubs at lunch and afterschool, like choir, rock and instrumental band groups, and drama club. All 5th and 6th grade students showcase their Music and Performing Arts skills in our annual Winter Concert and can volunteer to support other community events like all-school assemblies, the annual Talent Show, Spring Musical, and more.  

In 7th and 8th grade, students dive into electives offerings that challenge them, increase their knowledge, and push the boundaries of a traditional middle school performing arts program. Elective offerings include courses like: Hillbrook Show Choir, Rock Band, Theater Tech, Spring Musical, Instrumental Ensemble, Drama Club, Set Building, and more. Throughout the year, a myriad of additional performance opportunities abound, within school and at external events near and far. 7th and 8th Grade students can participate in Winter Concert, support tech for Lower School performances and the Spring Musical in many roles both on-stage and back-stage, and can travel with Choir or Band groups to perform in the community.