PreK-12 Supervisor of Fine Arts
Fine and Performing Arts Department
Middletown Public Schools Arts Philosophy
The Visual and Performing Arts remain essential disciplines that play a pivotal role in the educational journey of every student. They serve not only as a profound form of personal and expressive reflection but also as a highly structured environment for developing the critical thinking necessary to become future-ready citizens.
The Core Instructional Vision
The core purpose of Visual and Performing Arts education in Middletown Public Schools is providing students with the tools to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information in order to grapple with authentic, real-world challenges inherent in artistic creation/performance, interpretation, and creation.
Visual and Performing Arts as a Laboratory for Critical Thinking
The Arts are integral to all learning by enabling students to develop sophisticated skills in higher-order thinking, creative problem-solving, and collaboration. This is achieved by focusing instruction on student-driven critical thinking through the systematic application of the following high-leverage practices:
Student Questioning & Inquiry: Students are taught to drive their own learning and artistic process by generating and refining powerful questions.
Academic Discourse & Accountable Talk: Students engage in structured debate and dialogue, using precise vocabulary and shared protocols to deepen their reasoning and collaborative decision-making.
Evidence-Based Reasoning: Students justify their creative and interpretive claims by citing explicit evidence from scores, design principles, or art history.
Reflection & Metacognition: Students routinely document and reflect on their strategies, challenges, and growth to develop self-discipline and self-correction.
Purposeful Play & Problem-Solving: Students are given creative constraints and challenges that require them to explore, design, and negotiate innovative solutions.
By engaging in these practices, students move beyond appreciation to become discerning participants who understand and utilize the aesthetic experiences of our own and other cultures, preparing them to contribute meaningfully to the world they will inherit.
Steve Matthews
Music Department
The Middletown High School Music Department is dedicated to cultivating the brilliance and creativity in every student through a comprehensive, vibrant program. Our goal is to develop culturally-responsive, compassionate, and creative contributing members of society by fostering advanced technical skills and a deep appreciation for music.
Comprehensive Music Offerings
We provide a wide variety of during-school and after-school opportunities to prepare musicians for local, state, and national-level performances.
Performance Ensembles
Students can hone their skills in a wide array of instrumental and choral ensembles. Instrumentalists can audition for the advanced Jazz Ensemble, which delves into improvisation and big band compositions, or join the Concert Band and Wind Ensemble, which includes required participation in the Marching Band program. Vocalists have the choice of the non-audition Concert Choir, the more rigorous, audition-only Chamber Choir, or the Morning Concert Choir option. All performance courses require participation in school and public events.
Applied Skills and Modern Music
Our curriculum offers engaging, hands-on courses in applied instrumental skills, including Piano/Keyboard I & II, Guitar I & I. For students interested in music technology and popular culture, we offer Music Production (utilizing software like Garageband) and Hip Hop Methods, which explores music theory, current events, and lyric writing.
Music Academics and Advanced Placement
Students can build a strong foundation in musical language through Fundamentals of Music Theory, which serves as a recommended preparation course for the Advanced Placement (AP) Music Theory path. We also offer an appreciation course, History of Rock and Roll, allowing students to explore the chronological and stylistic threads of a major musical genre.
Every course in the Music Department fulfills the required arts credit while nurturing a lifelong passion for creative expression and music literacy.
Dramatic Arts
The Middletown High School Drama Department is dedicated to fostering advanced skills in performance and technical theater, cultivating culturally-responsive, compassionate, and creative contributors to society. Our comprehensive program is designed to develop students' ability to communicate powerfully, work collaboratively, and find their unique voice both on and off the stage.
High School Drama Course Offerings
Students are invited to explore every aspect of theatrical production through a structured sequence of hands-on, engaging courses. There are no prerequisites for introductory courses, encouraging all students to explore their creative potential.
Acting Progression: Students can build their craft through a clear pathway: Acting 1 introduces foundational performance techniques, followed by Acting 2 for more advanced skill development. The capstone course, Advanced Theatre, pushes students to master complex acting styles and production roles.
Specialized Studies: For students interested in the creative leadership, the Directing course covers essential skills like production management, casting, and bringing a cohesive vision to life.
Behind the Scenes Mastery: The Technical Theatre course offers a deep dive into the non-performance aspects of a show, including sound, lighting, stagecraft, set design, and construction. This class is essential for students interested in design, engineering, or production management.
Throughout these courses, students will explore diverse theatrical techniques ranging from pantomime and improvisation to Commedia dell'arte. All classes provide opportunities for students to participate in their own classroom productions and view professional and amateur outside performances.
Extra-Curricular Productions
The award-winning after-school Drama program provides intensive, real-world experience, consisting of a fall straight play and a winter musical. Participation is strongly encouraged for all students—the directors are committed to leaning into the unique strengths and talents of every student who joins. These productions offer multiple opportunities for growth in both onstage and backstage roles, with the season culminating in a celebration at the annual HALO award ceremony.
Visual Arts
The Middletown High School Visual Arts program is a dedicated space for creativity, designed to develop sophisticated technical skills and a lifelong passion for critical thinking and expression. Our mission is to transform students into culturally-responsive, compassionate, and creative contributors to society by encouraging them to develop and explore their full artistic potential.
Comprehensive High School Visual Arts Offerings
Students at Middletown High School can choose from a robust selection of courses, moving from foundational exploration to advanced portfolio development across multiple mediums.
Drawing, Painting, and General Art
General Art serves as an exciting introduction or reintroduction to the arts, allowing students to explore a variety of processes and materials, including drawing, painting, collage, and three-dimensional art, all while focusing on the creation of original works.
In Drawing and Painting, students establish a strong foundation in structural drawing, design principles, and color theory as they learn to apply these concepts to their compositions.
The Advanced Drawing and Painting course challenges dedicated artists to further refine their technical knowledge, developing their own personal work with a professional focus on the entire creative process—from initial thumbnail sketch to final finished painting.
3D Arts: Pottery and Sculpture
Pottery and Sculpture offers a comprehensive experience in three-dimensional design. Students gain hands-on proficiency in the clay studio, learning essential skills like safe practices, understanding clay stages, hand-building techniques (pinch, coil, slab), and professional glazing practices. The course also introduces students to the potter's wheel and the artistic use of a variety of 3D materials, including wire, plaster, and board.
Digital Media and Photography
Courses in Photography and Digital Art help students develop multidisciplinary skills in a modern artistic environment. Students utilize camera and software technology (such as Photoshop) to execute professional artworks that effectively incorporate the Elements of Art and Principles of Design (e.g., line, shape, balance, movement). A strong focus is placed on art criticism skills, enabling students to describe, analyze, interpret, and make judgments about their work and the work of well-known artists.
Every visual arts course fulfills the required arts credit while nurturing the diverse talents of all learners, preparing them to be creative and critical thinkers within our community and beyond.