Connect Classes
To the foundational core curriculum we add special area focus on subjects aligned with our unique mission and philosophy. Known as Connect Classes, each of these classes is taught by a highly qualified expert and is thematically tied to students’ classroom units. Connect Classes for Kindergarten through 5th grade include Art, Music, P. E., and Drama. Students also participate in weekly nature based experiences (Packs).
The Arts
In the Basic School model, students explore various fields of knowledge within a framework called the Core Commonalities. These eight tenets are based on shared human experience and integrate subjects in a way that helps students see connections across the disciplines and in their lives. This includes responses to the fine arts, the instructional core of Pioneer Springs's Connects classes. Music, Drama, Dance, and Visual Arts offer opportunities for students to respond to the universal experience of Art.
Music
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Music is integrated in many different ways at PSCS- classroom teachers use song as part of their daily rituals, both to focus and transition students throughout the instructional day, as well as a means of celebration, from dance parties to birthday songs to the loss of a tooth. In addition, students participate in a weekly music class through which they sing, play instruments, move, listen, compose and improvise. Music classes at PSCS address grade specific essential standards often through collaborative, project-based experiences (think creating a musical performance based off of a newly invented notation system). Music teacher, Ms. Gwen, hopes her students will develop a lasting love, understanding and appreciation of music as well as benefit from important life skills that a comprehensive music education can help foster, including cooperation, creativity, self-esteem, critical-thinking, self-discipline and self-motivation.
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Drama
PSCS drama classes are intended to expose students to the formal study of theater, both through consideration of plays and playwrights as well as through the creation and production of their own ideas. Students discover that drama, like art and music, is a significant human experience woven through history and across cultures.
DANCE
The Basic School philosophy celebrates the fine and performing arts as an invitation for students to express themselves and connect with one another. Thus, the dance program at Pioneer Springs Community School, a Connect offering for K-5th graders, is a weekly class that nurtures students as movers, creators, and performers. Students explore and experiment with movement including spatial awareness and creating patterns, learn the fundamentals of dance and various dance styles from hip hop to jazz to modern forms, create choreography, develop a historical context for the importance of dance form and its artists in all cultures, and perform collaborative work in a variety of settings.
Art
Art and the creative exploration of core curriculum are an essential part of every student’s daily experience at Pioneer Springs. In addition, each student participates in weekly Art Connect Classes, which are thematically tied to each grade’s units of study. PSCS art teacher Susan Montague is fond of saying, “artists are people who see things in a new way.” To that end, and in keeping with our mission, natural, recycled, and upcycled materials are often utilized.
Art instruction at Pioneer Springs is always process-oriented, with the emphasis on the journey of each project. This approach allows students to make their own discoveries, promotes higher-level thinking, and develops innovation, imagination, and problem-solving skills. Art projects are often open-ended, meaning the finished product is not modeled for students, but instead materials are provided that can be used in a variety of ways. At the close of a project, students are encouraged to evaluate their own work, participating in teacher-facilitated reflections.
Art instruction at Pioneer Springs is always process-oriented, with the emphasis on the journey of each project. This approach allows students to make their own discoveries, promotes higher-level thinking, and develops innovation, imagination, and problem-solving skills. Art projects are often open-ended, meaning the finished product is not modeled for students, but instead materials are provided that can be used in a variety of ways. At the close of a project, students are encouraged to evaluate their own work, participating in teacher-facilitated reflections.
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Ceramics
Pioneer Springs offers ceramic instruction as an enhancement to our Art Program. Each grade level embarks on a "ceramic intensive" project which is thematically tied to the classroom study. Students learn basic and age-old ceramic hand-building skills such as coiling and slab construction, which allow the flexibility for students to make each piece uniquely their own.
Physical EducationP.E. at PSCS takes a non-traditional approach to introducing all students to grade specific essential standards for physical health. Using elements such as obstacle courses and team assignments PE teaches collaboration, team work and the appreciation of difference. Working together students find and make connections, learning one another’s strengths and gifts. Just as in the classrooms there is a P.E. promise, a commitment to respecting others, the equipment and the environment. The promise includes honoring personal space and a commitment to having fun. P.E. takes place outside in the full range of Carolina weather.
ArcheryPioneer Springs Community School partners with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission to offer the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP). Taught by certified coaches, the program promotes learning, fun, health and fitness, and participation in the lifelong sport of archery. Students shoot at bulls-eye targets with special backdrops and safety restraints. The equipment used is state-of-the art and designed to fit every student. Students in upper elementary and high school will have the opportunity to participate in NASP during physical education classes. Students in 4th grade and above also have the opportunity to join the Archery Team after school. Archery history, safety, technique, equipment, mental concentration, physical fitness and self-improvement are key components of the NASP program. Archery is safe, according to the National Safety Council, and there has never been an archery accident in NASP. The program builds math skills, teaches history and culture, stresses responsibility and encourages social interaction
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