The Creative Mind

While introducing art concepts and methods to students, the mission of the Visual Arts program is to integrate art history, cultural influences and community involvement with each lesson emphasizing that each students’ creative expression is unique. Students will explore visually, emotionally, physically and intellectually various media and art processes to develop a lifelong connection to art as a means of expression.

The Art Department hosts Art Shows throughout the year that showcase student projects and artwork in the JBMA Fine Arts Building.

At Joseph Bruno Montessori Academy, students experience music by singing, moving, playing instruments, improvising, composing, reading, describing, and evaluating. These basic elements provide a foundation for advanced development in all areas of music study and performance, as well as preparing students to be informed and appreciative music enthusiasts throughout life.

Music study is connected to other areas of the students’ curriculum, including the other arts, as well as academic disciplines outside the arts. There is a strong emphasis on listening skills, including focused listening.

Weekly classroom experiences provide opportunities for successful experiences for every student, regardless of ability level. Two public performances each year serve to help students understand the cooperative nature of musical ensembles and to develop the skills necessary for this community effort.

Dramatic Arts education is an important means of stimulating creativity in problem solving. It can challenge students’ perception about their world and about themselves. Dramatic exploration can provide students with an outlet for emotions, thoughts, and dreams that they might not otherwise have means to express. A student can, if only for a few moments, become another, explore a new role, solve complex problems, or express themselves in a new way.  This is perhaps the most important reason for Dramatic Arts in schools. Dramatic Arts work to improve students’ skills in communication, public speaking, and teamwork. 

The Drama Program puts on two shows every school year, one in the Fall and one in the Spring. These shows take 6 weeks preparation and have always been a large part of Bruno’s Fine Arts program.

Mrs. Melissa’s Spanish Program seeks to facilitate exploration of the Spanish language and provide them with the necessary tools to help them build the skills to eventually become fluent speakers.

The students will learn the language through exercises, activities, songs, books, and cultural lessons. They will build up their vocabulary and their lessons will become more challenging as they advance through the grade levels here at JBMA. The repetition of vocabulary will give the students the reinforcement needed to effectively memorize and remember the words they learn.

Interactions with the teacher and other students will help foster a love for the Spanish language and Hispanic culture. Students will hopefully develop a fascination with learning not only Spanish, but other languages and cultures. Diversity is everywhere and we need to prepare the students to become citizens of the world!

The library is a place for students to develop academic skills, including the ability to locate, retrieve, evaluate and utilize information.  Students become familiar with library materials, which are no longer limited to the traditional print materials and card catalogs.  Modern library materials now include tools such as computers and electronic resources.  Learning how to efficiently use these tools is important for academic success.

Here at Joseph Bruno Montessori Academy, students are taught essential skills in weekly library lessons.  Starting at the preschool level, students are taught library basics, such as the parts of a book, the role of the author and illustrator, and the proper care of library materials.  In lower and upper elementary classes, students further develop their library skills by learning how to search for, retrieve, and use library resources.  Elementary students also begin typing in the first grade, and continue developing this skill through middle school.  Middle school library classes incorporate lessons on basic research methods such as evaluating online resources, searching electronic databases, using references materials, and properly citing sources.