DS Arts Newsletter: January - March Edition

​ ​ DS Arts Newsletter Winter Edition: January-March ​ ​ ​ ​ It's been a busy three months in the Arts for DS. I appreciate your patience in waiting for an update through the long months of winter, and I am happy to share all of the exciting things being done for and by our Fine and Performing Arts students K-12. From new Convocation, Interdisciplinary, Mash Up, and WIN pilot courses, to General Music, Ensemble, and Drama performances going above and beyond , it have been an event season for the arts at DS Before you start reading, click below to see all main fine and performing arts events happening at the DS Regional School Campus (some this very week!), and be sure to mark your calendars! ​ ​ ​ ​ Regional Campus FPA Calendar ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Arts are a WIN at the Middle School! ​ This term of 8th grade students did an exceptional job of their cover song project. All were not only varied and interesting, but truly showcased that ALL students at DS can create, perform, connect, and respond to music. You can listen to a sample by clicking on the link below! ​ ​ ​ ​ Yellow by Coldplay Cover ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Additionally, The Arts and Band have been piloting WIN initiatives with great success! Janice Barry piloted a WIN band lesson program that provides key interventions for instrument specific techniques that would continue our successful group lessons the elementary schools and mirrors some of the supports offered in surrounding school band programs. Cathy Simino has also piloted and Art WIN program that provides support for students wishing to pursue art in high school as well as provide a means to increase student relationships and belonging. We thank Cathy and Janice for going above and beyond, volunteering their time to test these new pilots as options for the future. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Into the Woods Stuns Audiences on Opening Night! ​ Our Drama students have been working non-stop since January on this year's production of Into the Woods, a Tony - nominated musical by Stephen Sondheim that takes familiar fairy tales and brings them into the real world of complex problems. Both the Cast and Crew have risen to the complexity of this show, and brought it to a near-professional level that wowed audiences for their opening performance last night. If you didn't catch the first show, there are three more performances TONIGHT March 14th 7:00pm, and on Saturday March 15th at 1:00pm and 7:00pm. Tickets are available at https://dsdrama.ludus.com/index.php We hope to see you there! ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ DS K-12 Art Show this weekend as well! ​ As part of the Into the Woods Musical Experience, there will also be an impressive artworks display in the cafeteria for the remaining shows! This display features all student work from all grades, both 2D and 3D, including art from our AP art students and our WIN block Art Intervention Pilot. Plus, many of the students who painted and decorated the set will have featured work in the exhibit as well. Get your tickets today and come see this marvelous display! ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Music in the Air at Chickering ​ Chickering General Music Classes are singing in the Spring season! First graders recently shared Tiny Classroom Concerts with families, showcasing folk dancing, composition, rhythm ensembles and more. We also had student Ian Glancy join to complete is teaching practicum and learn from our expert elementary staff. Looking ahead, Grades 2 and 3 are preparing a musical May Day festival, Grade 4 is rehearsing their Convocation performance based the book Change Sings by Amanda Gorman, and Kindergarten is looking forward to their concert in May! ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Student teacher Mr. Glancy coaches a small group of recorder students from Ms. Kreutler's third grade class at Chickering, in a composition exercise.   ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 5th Grade Students demonstrating their rhythms skills on the tubanos. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Music Mash Up Comes to Pine Hill! ​ Fourth graders are busy working on the new MUSIC MASH UP at Pine Hill! This is a new initiative adopted from the interdisciplinary Convocation curriculum already performed at Chickering and created by Julie Law-Linck. Mrs. Hodge was inspired when she saw the Chickering 4th graders rehearse last year and knew that she wanted to create an equitably awesome experience for Pine Hill students. Pine Hill is basing their musical, theatrical piece on a text by Kwame Alexander: How To Read a Book. It is a fabulous poem with even more fabulous illustrations (Melissa Sweet). Similar to Convocation, this book is jumping off point to learn about acting, stage presence, singing, and playing instruments, All of their hard work will culminate with a performance on Thursday, May 29th on the hill. Be sure free to check it out! ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ FoPA blows us away with the Chocolate Cafe! ​ FoPA hosted the Chocolate Cafe the first week of February, and it was a wonderful success. Not only did the many groups perform well and good community building was had, but thanks to your support FoPA was able to raise enough funds to support the transportation costs for the Regional Band and Chorus's upcoming trip to the Great East Festival in May. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Field Trips and Festivals - students shine! ​ This month we had students travel outside of our DS community at the middle and high school to both learn from outside sources and represent DS. We had several students from the High school and Middle School perform in the MMEA Senior and Junior District Festival honors ensembles, where they were able to play and sing under collegiate level conductors and made DS Proud. Congrats to Yasmine Nee, Isaac Lee, Jameson Smith, Eric Liang, Ian Godfrey, and Aaron Zhao for being a part of these festival groups! The High School Jazz Band also went off campus to attend the Berklee Composition Concert, exposing them to a high level musicianship and a perspective on how music can be presented in a concert setting. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Alumni Highlight - Where are they now? ​ This edition we are highlighting DS arts Alum Aidan Levinson! A graduate of 2019, Aidan is has been pursuing a career in theater and just finished a run as in the musical "Pippin" as the title role musical. Aidan also performed as Pippin in our 2017 production, and it is exciting to see him reprise this role as he grows as an artist. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Wanna Get Involved? Join FoPA! ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ The Dover Sherborn Friends of the Performing Arts (FoPA) is our wonderful parent support group. Offering scholarships, fundraising for special projects, hosting receptions, and helping where needed is just a sample of what they do! If you’d like to get involved in an amazing arts community, email our FoPA President, Mrs. Diane Green at President@DoverSherbornFoPA.org ​ ​ ​

Friday, Mar 14 2025

Welcome Back & ParentSquare

A Message from the Superintendent Dear Families, Happy Friday! It has been an incredible few days of learning and community building - the energy and joy in each of the schools is tangible! Many of our administrators and educators have begun to reach out using ParentSquare. This message is being sent through ParentSquare as well.  On Monday, you should have received an invitation to join ParentSquare from our new Director of Educational Technology, Brandon Hall. If you haven't already downloaded the app, please do so as it is the best way to stay connected with our school community. Parentsquare allows you to:  Posts  - follow news and happenings in the class, grade, school, and district Events  - see the school calendar and save events on your phone Photos  - view and download class and school photos Participate  - volunteer for events, sign-up to bring an item, or fill out a form Communicate - message with staff or your classroom teacher Download the App! If you are viewing this message on your phone, click on a link below to download the app. If you are viewing on your computer, use your phone camera to hover over the QR image to download the app. iPhone - Apple Store  Android -  Google Play Store   Best wishes for a wonderful long weekend and I look forward to seeing your child(ren) again next week!  Beth McCoy  

Friday, Aug 30 2024