Fine Arts - Summit Christian Academy

Summit’s fine arts programs teach the history, masters, and techniques of visual and performing arts and provide an outlet for students to express talent and creativity.

Visual Arts

Elementary Art

Elementary art at Summit teaches students about art history, art masters and art technique. They learn principles of design such as subject, background, shape, color, texture and form. In addition, a wide variety of mediums are used to include paint, pencil, and clay. Within the school year, students create pottery, practice weaving, and produce works on paper. Varied activities allow students to learn and create at age and skill-appropriate levels.

Middle & High School Art Classes

Studio art classes for 6th – 12th grade students are popular electives at Summit. From Art 1 to college-level Pre-AP and AP Drawing Portfolio classes, a range of classes are offered to grow student understanding of art history, appreciation of styles, and ability to execute techniques. Hands-on work is done with a variety of mediums, including paint, pencil, collage, cels, acrylic plexiglass layers, paper, canvas and more.

More On The SCA Studio Arts Curriculum

Art is an integral part of the human experience; it enriches us, inspires us, challenges us, and helps us to see the world’s beauty. Visual art is instrumental in helping us understand the world’s history, current events and the world’s reactions to them, as well as providing a vision of the future.

Guided by the New Visual Arts Standards and the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, students will learn to apply the elements and principles of art to create dynamic and meaningful pieces in a variety of 2D and 3D art mediums. Through the study of art fundamentals, art history and contemporary artists, and aesthetics all infused with a Christian worldview, students will cultivate life-long skills of decision-making and problem-solving, visual literacy, evaluation, and cultural appreciation.

Students will learn primarily through the Discipline-Based Art Education method: art production, art criticism, art history, and art aesthetics. In addition to DBAE, other teaching methods will be employed based on the age level of students and the objectives of lessons being taught providing a differentiated learning environment that will meet the needs of all learning styles. Through classroom exercises and projects, students will learn to evaluate and apply a variety of mediums (2D and 3D), techniques, and processes to a range of subject matters. Students will also explore the significance of art as it relates to personal experience, faith, culture, and human history through discussion and analysis that will aid them as they make decisions through the creative process. By engaging the imagination and fostering the development of creativity students learn to be a “light” to the world in new and fresh ways through the creation of meaningful artwork. It is my desire to stimulate the students’ interest in the visual arts, and to help them understand and appreciate its components so that they have the capacity to develop their talent and approach art from a Christian worldview.

Visual Arts Events

Students have the opportunity to compete at our annual school Art Festival and can advance on to the ACSI District Art Competition. We have had many students receive high-level awards including Best of Show at the National Congressional Art Competition with their artwork displayed in the Congressional Hall.

Performing Arts

Theater

The Summit Christian Academy theater program is a thriving program that offers 5th -12th grade students the ability to explore their God-given talents in the theater arts. We offer engaging theater courses as well as a variety of performance and competition opportunities. Students build self-confidence, increase self-awareness and gain skills in collaboration and cooperation by working to create theater.

Course work covers improvisation, character development, theater history, stage movement, voice/diction, pantomime, film acting, and solo, duet and ensemble stage acting. Stagecraft students learn set, costume and makeup design. Performance and competition opportunities include full-length play productions and musicals.

Band

Students learn the techniques of playing band instruments, working to develop tonal quality and technical facility. Emphasis is placed on proper breathing, tone control, reading skills, development of the embouchure, intonation, articulation, and development of range. Students develop individual and group performance skills playing in the drum line, spring and fall concerts, and special events.

Choir

The Summit Christian Academy Elementary, Intermediate and High School Choirs are growing and exciting parts of the fine arts department. They are designed to give students the opportunity to gain technical music knowledge, while working towards developing their vocal skills. This is accomplished through learning to sing in multiple voice ranges, understanding and getting to know their voice through breath training and warm-ups, developing the ability to stylize their voice for various music genres, and understanding how to interpret and deliver a song’s message.

Choir students have numerous opportunities to perform on campus at chapel, in concerts and at special events as well as in the community, such as singing at National Day of Prayer observances, professional sporting events, and more.

SCA encourages students to be a strong light in the world by utilizing the power of high quality meaningful artwork in all varieties of traditional and modern mediums so that they might impact the world through their art and lives.