Academics

Welcome back to a new school year!

I am looking forward to meeting you and have been enjoying your children. I am excited about this upcoming year together in art class! This is my 5th year at Summit as your child's Visual Arts teacher! I have been teaching for fourteen years as an elementary art teacher, 9 of those years were in DPS and 5 have been here at Summit. I have two children of my own, T.J. is 10 and is in 5th grade and Aaden is 8 and is in 3nd grade.

The visual arts seem to bring a lot of joy to your child's day and can help them with all subject areas such as math, literacy, writing and vocabulary! Your child does get a grade in art and they even may have tests to study for.

Your child will experiment with a variety of art materials, art history, culture and various art techniques throughout the year. We will learn and explore with the new Colorado Visual Art Standards. Themes for each grade are:

5th grade: Personal Intent
4th grade: Meaning in Art
3rd grade: Purposeful Art-Making
2nd grade: Reflection of Experiences
1st grade: World Stories

All of our lessons will be based on the standards with these themes in mind. We will read about art, write about art, think about art, talk about art and of course MAKE lots of art.
Most of the art will stay at school until the end of the year. This way, we can look over the work to see how we've grown, display it in the school and sometimes it will be selected for district or community exhibits.

Art Fundraiser: We will begin the year making artwork for our annual Square One Art fundraiser. The work students make will be available for purchase on mugs, magnets, t-shirts, jewelry and many more wonderful items. These make great keepsakes for yourself and unique holiday gifts for friends and family. This is a great opportunity to purchase one-of-a-kind art treasures made by your child and also support our wonderful school art program!

You will receive an order packet around October 27th. Orders will need to be returned by November 14th. You will receive your purchased art items at the beginning of December just in time for the holiday season.

Looking forward to wonderful year together!

Mrs. Christopherson