Programs

We offer grade-level bands beginning in the fifth grade and continuing through the Upper School. Performances take place throughout the year, including school gatherings, holiday concerts, and off-campus competitions. Honors Band is available to Upper School students, by audition.

Lower School Choir
The Lower School Raving Ravens, an auditioned choir, is limited to students in grades 4 and 5. It was created for the purpose of training students to sing alone as well as in a small performing group. Students who participate in the Raving Ravens are often called upon to sing at special events on and off campus.

Middle School Choir
Choral Music is offered as a class for 6th, 7th and 8th grades. The choirs require no audition other than to determine voicing. In addition to performance opportunities at school and in the community, the choirs learn basic choral technique, music reading and competencies, and incorporate Citizen Leader characteristics to create well-rounded musicians and capable leaders in the arts.

The Middle School Choir performs at concerts and school gatherings. The choir also competes at the Music Performance Adjudication sponsored by NC Music Educators Association in March and has received a Superior ranking for the past several years. Later in the spring, the choir competes at a music festival at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA, where it traditionally takes highest honors.

Upper School Choir
The Upper School Concert Choir is a performance choir that requires no audition other than to determine voicing. This choir serves the school by performing at various school functions including Opening Day Ceremony and school gatherings. An Honors section is available by audition for advanced students in Upper School.

Sixth Grade Exploratory Drama is a year-long program and is an introduction to performance-based skills such as creative movement, improvisation, voice/diction, vocabulary of the stage and acting. Students will also explore playwriting, directing, and analysis of dramatic work with a focus on storytelling. Theatrical hierarchy and technical theatre concepts are also introduced during this course. The course culminates in a performance of a short vignette-style play.

Middle School Stage Tech is a year-long course open to seventh- and eighth-grade students which builds on the foundations of Sixth Grade Exploratory Drama while expanding students’ skill base in technical theatre and providing more substantial focus on monologue and scene work. Students may take this course twice in both seventh and eighth grades. The course culminates in the production of a one-act play or a collection of scene studies. Students in this course are required to attend at least one mainstage production (Fall Play, Winter Musical, or Spring Musical) as part of the coursework of the class.

Upper School Drama is a performance-based course offered each semester, although students are encouraged to participate for the entire year as several projects overlap the break in semesters. An Honors section is offered for advanced students in Upper School.  Upper School Drama students are required to participate in all class productions, as well as attend all Middle School Drama productions.

Beginning Strings is open to sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students who have an interest in music and are curious about playing a string instrument. No prior experience is necessary. Students in the class combine with Sixth-Grade and Middle School Strings in concerts throughout the year.

Sixth Grade Strings is a year-long course designed to instruct sixth-grade string students in the techniques of playing violin, viola, cello, or bass while developing musicianship and collaboration skills within the context of an ensemble setting.  On-campus performances throughout the year spotlight the students in formal and informal settings.

Middle School Strings is an interactive performance-oriented music course for seventh- and eighth-grade intermediate-advanced string students. Formal and informal performances take place throughout the year. “Lead from Here” competencies are integrated into all aspects of the experience. At least one full year of prior string instrument study is required. 

Upper School Strings is an interactive music performance course for ninth-12th Grade intermediate and advanced string students who wish to further their technique and musicianship in the context of an ensemble.  The curriculum blends the study of masterworks from the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, 20th Century, and Contemporary periods with hits from pop and jazz charts, TV, film, and Broadway. With a focus on project-based and student-led learning, skills in collaboration, leadership, and service are developed. Honors Strings is available for advanced players in grades nine-12, by audition.

Ravenscroft offers visual art classes from Pre-K to 12th grade. Classes focus on developing the imagination and technical skills of students. Approaches to art-making stress observational skills in drawing and painting, two-dimensional design principles and elements, sculpture techniques, three-dimensional design and crafts. Ideas and forms of expression are explored to develop the imagination and creative nature of the individual student.

Visual Arts Galleries can be found in the Pugh Family Lobby, the Fine Arts Office Suite, the Lower School, Richards Hall and the Art Hall in Fine Arts Center. Artwork is rotated out as new works come up.

Opportunities include:

• Group violin (grades 1-5)
• Group viola and cello (grades 2-5)
• Lower School String Orchestra (grades 4-5)
• Lower School Choir (grades 4-5)
• Lower School Band (grade 5)