Art | Music | Physical Education | Library | Computers | Mandarin Chinese

Specialist classes - Art, Music, Physical Education, Library, Computers and Mandarin Chinese – are part of the curriculum at the Amigos School.  Specialist classes, except for Chinese, are usually taught in English.

Art


Every student at the Amigos receives 45 minutes of Art each week. Art class provides a creative outlet for students allowing them to be expressive and to learn new artistic skills. A variety of materials are provided for the students while they learn about drawing, painting, collage, printmaking, sculpture, textiles, and more. In Art the students are also taught how to have conversations about their art and the art of others. Each year as the students advance, they are expected to increase their artistic abilities though various avenues of artmaking and art-thinking.


Music

*    The following classes are joint Amigos and MLK students:
        - 6th grade Instrument
        - 7th and 8th Instrument – one section

•    Private lessons: Offered at the King Community School, After school program

Middle School, City-wide Band, Orchestra and Chorus –Offered on Wed. afternoon, at CRLS- Open to all students

For more information, click here.

Physical Education

Amigos School students grades JK through 8 participate in two physical education classes per week. Amigos School shares two gymnasiums with the King School, an upper and a lower gym.

Physical Education is an essential experience in human development. Through regular participation in a broad spectrum of activities, students have a channel of learning allowing every student, regardless of ability, to meet physical challenges, develop essential motor skills, assess individual abilities, appreciate the fun and joy of human movement, and develop strategies for improvement.

• The physical education program provides the opportunity for children:
  
• To meet physical challenges
  
• To develop motor skills
  
• To enhance self-esteem and body image
  
• To maintain a healthy body
  
• To relieve stress
  
• To assess individual physical, emotional, leadership, and academic abilities
  
• To develop the spirit of cooperation and collaboration
  
• To develop strategies for self-improvement
  
• To practice constructive competition
  
• To appreciate the value, fun, and joy of activity
  
• To understand the necessity of fitness and lifetime activity
  
• To be sensitive and tolerant of others in an inclusive environment
  

For more information, click here.

Chinese Mandarin
Chinese Mandarin Language Enrichment Program at the Amigos School


Library 
The King/Amigos School Library is the information hub for two distinct schools, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. School and the Amigos School. In support of both schools' commitment to educational excellence, the library's mission is to ensure that the students and educators, in both communities, are efficient and effective users of information. The library program also encourages academic and recreational reading.

Library Goals

• To support teaching, learning and researching in an intellectual and culturally open environment.
  
• To collaborate with classroom teachers to enhance and reinforce the schools' curriculum while teaching information literacy skills.
• To provide resources that support, complement and extend classroom instruction.
  
• To promote an appreciation of literature enabling students to interpret various forms of genres, as they become lifelong readers and learners.

Quotation
"I strive to nurture a love of books in children. I encourage them to explore their interests - try reading not only different genres, but books that have words they can't read or understand, yet.  Being a lifelong user of libraries is a process which I am happy to support."
- Sarah Novogrodsky, Amigos/King Librarian

For more information, click here or visit the The Amigos School Library web site.

Computer and Technology Lab
Primarily the Computer Lab supports and enhances the classroom teacher’s curriculum in math, language arts, science and research. Specialists also use the Lab with students to support classroom learning.

• Access: All classes and students, JK through 8th grade, use the Computer Lab. Primary grades tend to use the Computer Lab on a weekly basis while use by the middle school varies around classroom projects. Middle school staff can schedule Computer Lab time several times per day or several times per week depending on the research project.
  
• Hardware: In addition to the Computer Lab and some classroom computers, Amigos School owns digital still and video cameras and an overhead document camera/projector which is available to staff to support classroom projects. The middle school also has access to 24 iBook laptop computers connected to our wireless network for use in classrooms. Middle school math and science teachers also have a Teamboard and a Smartboard.
  
• Software: JK, Kindergarten and 1st grade classes use the Computer Lab to develop basic computer skills such as hand eye coordination with the computer mouse and navigation of  the operating system using rudimentary graphic, word processing and math software programs. Grades 2 through 5 use the Computer Lab to support classroom activities including accessing on-line databases for research, word processing, math skills, MCAS prep and keyboarding. Grades 6 through 8 use the Computer Lab to support classroom projects through on line research and word processing. During the year, middle school students will create WIKIpedia web pages for both science and social studies projects. Additionally, these students use on-line and networked software applications to practice keyboarding and to practice and reinforce math and language arts skills in preparation for MCAS.

When possible, the Computer Lab provides software and on-line access in Spanish and English. Many computer projects are in both languages.

For more information, click here.