Program Highlights

Community Arts Partners

The CREC Ana Grace Academy of the Arts (PK - 5) is collaborating with community partners - The Bushnell Theatre, Hartford Stage, the Hartford Symphony, University of Hartford Fine Arts Programs and Charter Oak Cultural Center – to develop and enhance a developmentally appropriate, hands-on, inquiry based, arts infused curriculum. These organizations support the integration of arts into the daily curriculum and provide field studies at these locations and outreach in our classrooms. The CREC Ana Grace Academy of the Arts (PK - 5) keeps families informed of our partners’ offerings and how families can take advantage of their programs outside of school hours.

Direct Arts Instruction

All of our students, from PK 3 to 5th grade, receive instruction in all four of the arts concentrations, theatre, music, dance and art weekly.  Our dance core begins with pre-ballet and tap and is complimented by additional styles like jazz, world dance, and hip-hop.  Theatre and storytelling begin with our students in pre-k and evolves into improvisation and scene work for our older students.  In music, the concepts of rhythm and musicality are explored with our youngest students who express their learning through songs, games and movements.  This leads to our older students who become accomplished choral members, note readers and musicians.  Instrumental music begins in the 1st grade with Suzuki violin.  Students migrate to the string instrument that suits them and have the choice to switch to percussion or band instruments in the 4th grade.  Art is explored through various medium in two and three dimensions.  They learn about art masters and experiment with various styles and materials.

Nationally Recognized For Our Teaching and Learning Methods
The CREC Ana Grace Academy of the Arts Magnet Middle School is nationally recognized for many of its innovative instructional methods and ideas. We have achieved Level 4 status as a High Reliability School by the Marzano Educational Resource Network. This means our school has been evaluated and judged to contain a safe, supportive and collaborative culture; effective teaching in every classroom; a guaranteed and viable schoolwide curriculum; and the effective use of standards- based reporting methods. Additionally, we are a National Model Professional Learning Community, as selected by Solution Tree, one of the Nation's leading Educational Resource companies. It means we take our learning seriously and that our student learning is data-driven and consistently evaluated to be effective and that our educators receive relevant, effective and continuous professional development in order to continue to grow as classroom leaders. Ana Grace Middle is one of only a handful of schools in the country to have achieved both of these recognitions.

Learn Arts from Our Artists

A unique feature of our school is our use of Artist Instructors in our classrooms. At Ana Grace Middle, you will learn alongside the professionals - you learn dance from a dancer and music from a musician, study film with a filmmaker and paint alongside a painter. At our school, professional artists teach our arts classes every day, joining our certified faculty to teach their particular specialties and sharing their love and expertise of an art form with our students. Every class is a master class at Ana Grace Middle School.