Artistic opportunities add to Janney’s traditional curriculum. In additional to the art and music classes every Janney student has each week; lunch-time clubs, assemblies, and art-integration workshops add to each student’s educational experience.

The school and PTA strive to offer arts integration experiences at each grade level.  Arts integration specialists come into the classroom and work with students and teachers to enhance learning by incorporating arts into the learning environment. Janney also hosts visiting artists and child-centered assemblies once a month.

Artists such as The Rock Creek Steel Drummers, Wendy the Singing Scientist,  Native American and Pacific Island Dancers, Chinese Acrobats, Shakespearean Actors, Flamenco Dancers, and numerous musicians are only an example of the variety of artists who have shared their talents and cultures with Janney audiences.

Arts integration workshops allow students to learn about their world and express themselves in alternative ways.  For example, students might listen to and learn songs from the eras they study, examine and replicate the art created during those times, or delve into the lives of the people who lived through those events through literature.

For example, urban studies lessons are enhanced by a workshop on the history of the Hip Hop movement and culture. History is brought to life through reader’s-theater experiences where students work as a class to write and perform interactive plays about a period they are studying or myths they are reading. Artwork, such as the magnificent mobile hanging in the Janney atrium, is developed by students who work together to express their artistic side – allowing students to leave a piece of themselves behind after they are promoted to middle school.

Movement, dance, drama, and other forms of art all aid students in getting a comprehensive understanding of subject matter, tools for self expression and communication, and an entry point for learning and exploring complex ideas.