The Laurelwood staff believes in meeting the needs of the whole child. We therefore encourage children to participate in a number of creative arts activities:

All students in grades K - 5 learn the elements of music through vocal music instruction. In this program, students study the history and elements of music while learning to use their voices as instruments. Each grade provides a vocal performance for the Laurelwood student body. An evening performance for each grade level is also provided for parents, friends and others to enjoy.

All students in grades 3-5 are given the opportunity to study a musical instrument during school hours. They learn the rudiments of music and the etiquette of performance. All instrumental music students have the opportunity to perform in the District's annual Spring Concert.

During the month of December, through the guidance of volunteers and staff members, the school puts on a special Nutcracker Musical. Laurelwood students in grades 3-5 may audition for this production in the fall and voluntarily give up their recesses, before, and after school time for practices and rehearsals.

In addition to music, the arts of drama, visual art, literature and speech are highly incorporated into daily instruction in many of our classrooms.

In addition to grade level vocal music instruction, some classes also choose to learn and perform mini-musical plays based on California's Content Standards, such as learning about the planets ('Vacation on Mars'), Geology ('Geology Rocks'), the rainforest ('Rumpus in Rainforest'), the weather ('The Weather Show'), or the California Gold Rush ('Gold Dust or Bust').

Students also have the opportunity to explore their creativity as they learn to use various art media. When available to our school, artists from the Triton Art Museum visit us to instruct our students in the principles of art.