Classes & Grades

Not Just Another Middle School

 

How is Creswell different from a traditional middle school?

At Creswell students may audition into 2 arts conservatories or classes. Students takestudent with flag these classes for a full school year. Typically in middle school, students switch their related arts classes every quarter and barely scratch the surface of these arts areas, and this is great for many students. However, we provide the space for those students that already have a passion for a specific area of art, to really dive deep in to the technical aspects of that art and develop their craft.

Creswell has earned the attention of the local community and was awarded grants from VH1 for a piano keyboard lab and from the Country Music Association (CMA) for both musical instruments and our theater sound system. We also are proud to have our school theater named in honor of Nashville’s former Mayor Bill Purcell for his contributions to education and Music City, USA.

What about Academics?

Don't worry, we haven't forgotten about academics, in fact many of our outstanding fine arts students are also outstanding academic students. As science and research have show a strong arts education can significantly impact learning growth. Student DrawingsIn addition to our arts-based curriculum, Creswell offers rigorous standards in academics to help our students thrive and be successful. Programs such as Encore and YSN that our district offers for advanced learners are offered here to give them an environment to thrive and grown academically while they also nourish their creative strengths. English learners also thrive at Creswell, where they are offered an environment in which they can gain proficiency in English. Finally, Creswell’s Exceptional Education teachers offer individualized instruction and assistance to students identified as having particular needs which cannot be met in a day-to-day academic setting. These needs may be academic, physical, social and/or emotional.

Arts Integration

We believe incorporating our student's strengths and passions into their academics will help them retain and understand academic information better. We also believe that this makes learning more fun and enjoyable. Academic teachers, at Creswell, routinely integrate the arts into their curriculum in meaningful and authentic ways. On the flipside our arts teachers also know how important it is to reinforce academic concepts in their classes as well. This not only strengthens students understanding and comprehension, but helps them to make new connections and further deepen their learning. Academic and Arts Conservatory teachers meet regularly to co-plan units, projects, and share the main concepts each will be teacher to look for places the curriculum naturally connects.

STEAM

Creswell is also part of MNPS STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) middle schools. At Creswell students use STEAM, as access points to the 4Cs (critical thinking, communication, creativity and collaboration). This empowers our students to better understand how their skills fit into our complex world.