Fine Arts

The arts are an integral part of an education at The Clariden School, from the AMI Montessori Lower School to the innovative, college preparatory Upper School. A part of every student’s day is spent exploring the arts and expressing themselves creatively. The Specialty classes pertaining to fine arts vary by student age and include art, advanced art, music, advanced music, choir, theater arts and band. Our Fine Arts building is beautiful and spacious, allowing for a variety of projects and activities.

Art

Clariden's Art program is a chance for students from first grade to twelfth grade, to experiment with new tools and media while expressing themselves through feelings, imagination, memory, and observation. Students also explore concepts and ideas through the elements and principles of art and increase their visual and aesthetic awareness in order to gain confidence in their drawing and design.

Every year, Clariden students participate in and create beautiful art pieces for the annual auction fundraiser, Southlake’s “Art in the Square,” and a school wide art show.

Click here to view a gallery from the 2008-2009 art program.

Band

The Clariden School offers band three days a week to students in grades 4-12. Students are able to choose their own instrument (percussion, brass or woodwind) and we focus on basic fundamentals, music theory, sight-reading, and music history.

Music

The Clariden Lower School music program incorporates both the Kodaly and Orff methods, giving the elementary child a well-rounded music learning experience. Students learn to read and notate music starting in first grade, and also have the opportunity to create their own short pieces. Students start the recorder in fourth grade, and continue working on that instrument throughout sixth grade. If your child wishes to, they can also join the Beginning Band and the Upper Elementary Choir for more specialized training for the instrument of their choice, whether that instrument is the clarinet or voice. All elementary music classes focus on movement, playing classroom instruments and singing songs from all over the world. Cultural awareness plays a big part in the music classroom; the music repertoire each year contains music from many different cultures, and represents the different nationalities we have at Clariden. We also spotlight a composer each week for the students to learn about and to sample some of that composer’s most famous works. Besides the classics, students also learn about music from the 20th century and beyond. The Clariden School has two major concerts each year, a Winter Concert and a Spring Concert, to give students the chance to perform a variety of music for the community. Each piece selected for the concerts emphasizes a set of skills the students learn during their music class.

The Clariden Upper School music program offers many courses to middle and high school students. Students can join Choir, Music Appreciation and Advanced Music Appreciation.

The Clariden Upper School Choir consists of middle and high school men and women who learn to sing together with expression and musicality. The choir performs, not just for concerts throughout the year, but they also carol for the Lower School students near Christmas time, and participate in the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) vocal competition in the spring.

Students who join Music Appreciation will find that it is not like any other music appreciation class, students continue to learn to sight-read music and rhythm patterns in multiple parts, notate and create their own music, learn music history starting with the Middle Ages through the 21st century, study basic music theory concepts, and rehearse and perform concert pieces using classroom instruments or instruments that they play outside of school. Students in Music Appreciation also have the leadership opportunity to help lead class and to conduct their classmates in rehearsals and concerts.

Advanced Music Appreciation is for students who have mastered the concepts they learned in Music Appreciation. This class covers more advanced sight-reading and music theory, and students can receive more individualized attention on the aspects of music that they choose whether it’s composing and arranging music or conducting.

Theatre

The Clariden Theater program is offered to Upper School students and is taught by the music and art teachers of Clariden. Students will learn all aspects of theater including acting and movement, sound and lighting, make-up and costumes, set design, publicity and critique. In the spring, the Upper School puts on a musical for the community. Students not only play the characters, but they also help create the backdrop and props, and help run the sound and lights.

Yearbook

The Clariden School yearbook staff is devoted to capturing the memories of the school year and helping relive them through the annual school yearbook, delivered in the fall of each school year. The yearbook class covers not only yearbook design basics, page layout skills, digital photography/editing, and print publishing, but also working as a team.