
WEST HAVEN,
May 17, 2016 —Gone are the days when arts in school meant learning new
songs on a recorder and experimenting with cray-pas, paints and
construction paper. In West Haven Public Schools, fine arts is a growing
centerpiece of every grade’s curriculum.
The program has undergone something of a renaissance
over the past several years, adding new classes, interactive operas,
theater groups, presentations and trips, and drumming up more and more
participation and enthusiasm from students, parents and staff along the
way. In a time when there’s increasing attention paid to core classroom
subjects, the West Haven Public School District has made a point of
highlighting the importance of arts education and its connection to
other academic areas.
“I call it an arts explosion because it’s all grown
tremendously. We have so many more students involved now, and the
support we’re receiving from the school community has been overwhelming.
Our Fine Arts Festival at the Savin Rock Conference Center earlier this
month was packed from the minute we opened the doors, and at some of
our school plays and concerts, almost every seat is taken,” said
Francine Coppola, the district’s fine arts coordinator.
The movement manifested itself in an abundance of arts
activity as April transitioned to May. The usual band and chorus
concerts kicked off their spring season, but in addition to that, West
Haven Public Schools alumnus Mark Hanke performed an opera written specially for West Haven schools in all six elementary buildings April 27-29 through a partnership the district forged with him last year.

The opera incorporated student art projects,
corresponded to literature being taught in the elementary school English
Language Arts curriculum, and also involved assignments in the school
libraries. Students even said the shows changed their minds about opera
and that they hope to see more of it in school and in the future.
The following week, West Haven High School band
members and students from Forest Elementary School and Washington
Elementary School were treated to Bach, Beethoven and Mozart at the
Young People's Concert by the New Haven Symphony Orchestra at Yale's
Woolsey Hall. This is the second year in a row the school system has
brought students to the interactive show, which broke down beats and
notes to show youngsters what goes into composing a piece of music.

The next day, on May 4, the Fine Arts Festival
displayed pieces from students in kindergarten through grade 12, while
also featuring a sample from the opera, folk dancing from Forest
students, Bailey Middle School’s jazz band, a scene from Carrigan
Intermediate School’s “Alice in Wonderland Jr.” spring musical, and the
WHHS Blue Devil Jazz Band.

Then on May 5, the district’s pre-kindergarten Art
Show took over the Savin Rock Conference Center with pre-K schools from
around the city. Meanwhile across town, Carrigan was holding “A Taste of
Drama,” another student show of skits written by three Carrigan
teachers.
Carrigan’s Drama Club has become extremely popular, and the intermediate school students are later going on to join Bailey’s Drama Club and West Haven High School’s Theatre Workshop, both of which are going strong and drawing rave reviews.
“This year, Carrigan created ‘A Taste of Drama’ to
give kids more experience on the stage. This new show was a great way to
support students’ growing interest in theater and give even more kids a
chance to get involved,” Superintendent of Schools Neil C. Cavallaro
said.
School bands at all levels are seeing similar trends.
It’s important to help students identify a passion for art, music or
drama when they’re younger so that they understand the myriad options
awaiting them at WHHS.

Carrigan’s band saw 100 more students join this year,
thanks, in part, to more discussion of band and instrument opportunities
in regular music classes.
Speaking of music classes, courses at Carrigan and
Bailey now incorporate djembes, a type of African drum, in addition to
piano keyboards. Bailey also teaches guitar in class.
Teachers and administrators are proud of the response
the expanding arts curriculum has received and that parents and
community members are recognizing students’ many talents in the area.
“We really wanted to make a commitment to introducing
our youngsters to instruments like the djembe, guitar instruction,
opera, the symphony and other art forms they otherwise might not have
the chance to experience,” Assistant Superintendent Anne Druzolowski
said.
“Our teachers in the fine arts and in our core
academic subjects have done an impressive job of working together to
make sure students have these opportunities and of creating
cross-disciplinary lessons that show how art relates to literature,
social studies and even math. The goal is to continue expanding
offerings and encouraging even more students to pursue their passions in
drama, music and artwork.”