CO-CURRICULARS
Our commitment to the whole child is reflected through our co-curricular program. Students engage with art, music, physical education, world languages, and our garden program throughout the school week. Our teachers collaborate to integrate these critical elements into the academic program. Our students learn the skills and aesthetics in each co-curricular area and how to apply them to their units of inquiry/study. Further, students learn that their ideas and thinking can be expressed in a variety of ways, and they use this critical understanding to make their thinking visible in all areas of learning.
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Art provides students time to engage in a creative process. Students learn different techniques to apply to their work which they connect with other subject areas. In addition, art provides multiple ways for students to make sense of what they learn, and to make their learning visible. Students also learn about art history and the role art has played throughout history to communicate ideas and to make human connections. THS students reach out to the Sonoma County community through a variety of art projects and collaboration.
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The focus of THS’s music program is to introduce all students to the love, understanding, and enjoyment of music while fostering creativity, ingenuity, and the appreciation of music as an art form. Through the use of age-appropriate activities which include instrument playing, singing, dancing, movement, and games, students learn the musical elements of music theory: history, composition, ethnomusicology, and ensemble work among others. Yearly music program highlights include an all-school Grandfriend’s Day Celebration, a Winter Program held in December, a spring musical in March, and an end-of-year Music showcase assembly. This year’s spring musical is “Shrek, Jr.”
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Our Lower School PE program focuses on building gross motor skills in a developmentally appropriate progress. As students mature, our program focuses on more specific sports skills as well as increasing students’ understanding of how nutrition, strength, stamina, and a sense of fair play supports a lifetime of wellness.
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The garden provides an environment for hands-on learning and teaches valuable concepts and skills that integrate with several subjects and educational goals, including personal and social responsibility and building community. Working with our Garden Coordinator and parent volunteers, students get the opportunity to plant, work, harvest and prepare healthy delicious food. When in season, the students harvest and prepare salads to serve at lunch, make smoothies using produce from the garden, and learn about new fresh and healthy foods.
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The Spanish program is designed for students to develop competence in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, as well as gain a deeper understanding of the culture of Spanish-speaking countries and communities. The progression is gradual and linguistically appropriate for all ages. As students progress through the program, they are encouraged to take linguistic risks, be vulnerable, and use their intuition. Differentiated instruction complements various learning styles, abilities and language backgrounds. TK through Fifth Grade students participate in Spanish classes two times per week. Middle School students will choose either Spanish or Mandarin as a language focus for the rest of their time at THS.
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Students are introduced to the phonetic system of modern, standard Mandarin Chinese, including pin yin, transliteration, and tones. Students learn to recognize characters and sentence patterns as they develop listening and speaking skills, communicating about themselves and their environment using sentences containing basic language structures. Activities to practice oral and aural skills include dialogue, interviews, surveys, presentations of poems, songs and traditional games. Throughout the program, students will gain insight into China’s diverse cultures and customs. Kindergarten through Fifth Grade students participate in Mandarin classes two times per week. Middle School students will choose either Spanish or Mandarin as a language focus for the rest of their time at THS.
