HCPS Mission for Performing Arts
The mission of the performing arts curriculum in Hanover County Schools is to equip students with the skills to communicate through music and drama, with the understanding that these art forms are an important universal language basic to our society and other cultures.
The Music Classroom
All Pole Green Gators have music class once a week for 45 minutes. Each grade focuses on discovering and experiencing music through speech, movement, instruments, song, and improvisation. It is our goal to arc the music program from kindergarten to fifth grade in a way that inspires musical creativity while equipping our students to confidently enter band, chorus, strings, and theater programs at Oak Knoll Middle School. During their time as a Gator, students learn music from around the world, play instruments like drums, ukuleles, and xylophones (to name just a few), and build life skills like curiosity and collaboration.
Recorders
At Pole Green, we teach our fourth grade students how to play the recorder. Through fun tunes like Nacho Mama and Mt. Everest, students practice reading the music while performing the notes on their instrument. Each year, we strive to help student’s play their best and grow as a musician. We follow a recorder karate curriculum where each student may test to attain the next level bead. Students strive to achieve the coveted "Black Bead" level.
School Assemblies
Students attend assemblies that include special performances by the Richmond Symphony, Theatre IV, and other special guests. Students from local schools (Oak Knoll Middle and Hanover High) also visit throughout the year to pique PGES students’ interest in music.
Student Performance Opportunities
Students in third, fourth, and fifth grade have opportunities to apply their musical knowledge to a wider variety of instruments. Third graders learn chords and pop songs on ukulele. Fourth graders will learn recorder to prepare for wind instruments in middle school. Fifth graders will compose and perform their own compositions.
Students in fourth and fifth grade are invited to join the PGES chorus. The chorus meets in the fall semester to prepare for a December concert. Fifth graders can audition for the Hanover all-county chorus in the spring for a performance at the Festival of Arts & Sciences. Fifth graders are invited to apply for the bucket drum ensemble. This ensemble meets in the spring semester to prepare for a performance at the end of the school year.
For more information, please contact: