Arts
Some students shine with an instrument. Others with a canvas. Some take up cameras, a pen. Others master 3D printers or strut their stuff on stage.
A True Arts Community
“Art ruffles feathers,” warns novelist and short story writer Nanette Avery. The media vary but the student-artists of Paideia share a passion for making things, innovation and creativity — not to mention fearless feather-ruffling.
Creators of Every Stripe
The school honors all they have to contribute by promoting development in the arts, including fine and performance arts. A wide array of pursuits are available, including visual arts such as drawing and painting, ceramics, woodworking and photography, as well as performing arts, including music, chorus and drama.
Why It’s Important
All the resources are here to encourage artistic expression, based on the idea that art is learned just like any other subject, with accomplished faculty in an atmosphere of free-flowing imagination, risk taking and fun.
Why does Paideia make this investment so fully? There’s what art does for our students: aids self-discovery, helps them see the world in new ways and refines their budding talent. And then there’s how students feel making art: jazzed, productive, connected to one another and, best of all, seen and appreciated.
A banquet of options
Music
The approach is to meet students where they are, making them feel comfortable expressing themselves through music. To whet young appetites, all 5th and 6th graders play an instrument and take chorus. Following this exploration, students choose band, orchestra or chorus in 7th grade and deepen their musicality throughout Junior High. In High School, music courses are offered to all students regardless of their level of expertise. While some advanced classes require an audition, the program strives to make classes accessible and enable students to continue to play and sing.
There are two orchestra classes, chamber and seminar, which combine to play concerts. In this way, an important lesson in partnership unfolds: “If you love the sound of an orchestra, you immediately have to subjugate the ‘I’ for the ‘we’ and ‘us.’ You can’t have it any other way,” says orchestra director Pete Ciaschini.
Writing
Sixteen faculty and staff writers show students the way, among them six English Department teachers. In 2024, faculty member Sarah Schiff earned one of only 10 Jack Hazard Fellowships, which will support her work on a novel. Says writing teacher Elly Bookman, “By helping students articulate their ideas clearly, we are putting them on a path to go out into the world and have their voices heard.” Charles Bethea ’00, staff writer for the New Yorker, is one of a host of alumni writers.
Students explore a range of genres in class, have the opportunity to express themselves creatively in short-term classes and can contribute to the Forum, the student newspaper, or Blue Rider, the literary magazine. Each year, the Pepperdene Speaker Series brings in writers of distinction, including Dorothy Allison, Edwidge Danticat, Chang-rae Lee, Natasha Trethewey and Tony Kushner.
Visual arts
A six-person faculty team with backgrounds in art education, advertising, film, biochemistry, the recording industry and art history guides students in the creation of everything from collage to self-portraits and from ‘stuffies’ to micrography, an ancient Jewish practice that uses Hebrew letters to make images. Says teacher Shondra Thomas: “My projects often begin with a specific goal but evolve into opportunities for students to express their curiosity and explore alternate paths.”
Chorus
For those whose instruments are their voices, the music ranges from classics of the Western canon to songs from around the world, while movement and choreography gets them using different parts of their brains as they sing harmonies.
A number of students are invited to participate in the selective All-state Chorus, Band and Orchestra.
Drama
Paideia’s drama instruction cuts across grade levels, focused on developing critical thinking, creativity and communication skills. Elementary students put on plays while both the Junior and Senior High stage spirited musicals each year. In High School, students can delve into directing, acting, film, theater tech, improv and playwriting — and put those talents to work via the school’s Black Box Theater.
An event like no other: Paideia’s musical
The student-run musical is among the school’s greatest traditions, not least because students do it all: casting, lighting, set design, staging, ticket sales — and everything in between. Says theater faculty member John Favier, “Rather than waiting on adults, our students bring gallons of their own imaginative and creative input to the process.”
The event requires intense preparation for all involved. For example, band and orchestra students must learn a two-plus-hour show and a 30-50-page book of music in around three weeks. In the end, nerves and mistakes fall away, and not a single performance over decades has ever failed to wow audiences. And for Lauryn Adams ’18, it was her ticket to Broadway.
Applause, applause
Year after year, Paideia’s art students win awards in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards competition.
81 Awards
In 2023, 47 students won a total of 81 awards, more than at any other independent school in the state, including 18 gold keys.
Art & Photography
In 2024, Paideia students earned 65 awards in art and photography, including 18 gold keys.
Gold Keys
The photography program has won the most gold keys in the state for the past eight years.