OVERVIEW
Sunset Hills is proud to feature an Arts Signature Program. Sunset Hills is a creative community where we educate the whole child by infusing the arts into every part of our lives. Students will experience the arts in connection with academic content. In addition, students will explore the creative and empathetic aspects of art through the fine arts, communication arts, and the connection between art and athletics.
PROGRAMS OFFERED
School Musical
Each year, we stage a large-scale production at The Vista Center of the Arts in Surprise. Supporting our student actors is a full production team, and community of dedicated parent and family volunteers. Auditions are typically held in September, with the rehearsals running through to the performance in February. Past productions include Alice in Wonderland, Jr., Thoroughly Modern Millie Jr., Shrek Jr., Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Jr., The Addams Family Jr., Frozen Jr. , Xanadu Jr., and Beauty and the Beast Jr. This exciting experience is open to all K-8 students at Sunset Hills!
Afterglow Choir
Afterglow is Sunset Hills' elite choir group. This ensemble is comprised of students from 6th-8th grades who enjoy singing and want to extend their classroom choir learning, build confidence and lasting friendships through performance. Students are required to be enrolled in the Chorus elective during the school day in order to be a part of this group. Afterglow performs throughout the year at school and off campus concerts and throughout the community, when opportunities arise. For five years, this ensemble has been featured in performances in Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure Park in Anaheim, CA. Afterglow rehearses after school monthly from September through December, and weekly from January through May from 3:15 to 4:30 on Wednesdays.
Bobcat Singers
The Bobcat Singers are comprised of students in 4th and 5th grades who love to sing! No audition is required for this ensemble, just a commitment to the rehearsal schedule and performances. Being involved in this group will provide the necessary experience needed to excel in more advanced opportunities in Junior High, including the elite Afterglow Choir. The Bobcat Singers perform at school events throughout the year, and occasionally have the opportunity for community performances, as well. The Bobcat Singers rehearse weekly from 3:15 to 4:15 on Thursday afternoons in the Spring.
District Honor Choir
Each year, about a dozen students from Sunset Hills’ choir programs are invited to perform in this annual event, which features a full day of rehearsals with other invited students from across the district with professional clinician. The repertoire for this choir is typically more advanced, and meant to highlight the most skilled members from each school choir from across the district. The Honor Choir is specially featured at the annual Dysart Festival of the Arts.
Beginning Band
All students in 4th Grade participate in the Recorder Band as a part of their Special Area Classes. Students are provided with recorders so that they can explore concepts associated with instrumental music performance. Reading the musical language, interpreting its meaning, and translating it to corresponding physical movements and physiological processes, all while keeping a collective pulse is a complex and novel task for the human brain. Training in this manner ensures both a smooth transition into 5th Grade Band, and provides an ideal opportunity for students to apply and synthesize knowledge acquired from Kindergarten through 3rd Grade.
Bobcat Band
Students can join Band starting in 5th Grade as an Elective course that runs through the whole school year on four days out of the week. Through creative scheduling, these students can also participate in a second Elective each quarter. Members are guided and supported to select appropriate instruments, and play a varied repertoire reflective of each grade level’s ability level. Each grade level’s band performs in multiple concerts and school events throughout the year, and is specifically designed to properly prepare students to participate in high school band. There are also startup opportunities for students at each grade level, in case the desire to join band comes later than expected.
District Honor Band
Each year, about a dozen students from Sunset Hills’ band programs are invited to perform in this annual event, which features a full day of rehearsals with other invited students from across the district with professional clinician followed by a concert. The repertoire for this band is typically more advanced, and meant to highlight the most skilled members from each school band from across the district.
Art Club
Students from all grades are invited and encouraged to participate in this in-demand program to extend their artistic learning beyond the school day. Students have the opportunity to create projects and artifacts in multiple media, including painting styles, ceramics, two-dimensional and three-dimensional art forms. Art Club typically meets after school on Thursdays.
5th-8th grade students have the opportunity to participate in Art Elective Courses. In all enrichment disciplines, students are provided with choices of two courses for each quarter. These Electives fuel and support all of Sunset Hills’ athletic teams, performance ensembles, and academic activities by providing the students to practice and enhance their skills across these disciplines during the school day. Arts-specific Electives include: Ceramics, Drawing, 2D & 3D Multimedia, Painting, Stop-Motion Animation, Choir, Band, Musical Theatre, Jazz, Pop Music, Music Blogging, Music History, Computer Animation, Digital Art, Video Production, and more!