“Art Is...” is a Rooftop art education program that uses works of art to provide an inexhaustible resource for exploration, reflection and understanding.  The program actively engages students, supports learning across the curriculum, and builds critical thinking skills through “hands-on” art making, reflection and research.

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“Art Is...” will bring works of art (music, dance, theater and visual art, with a focus on multicultural work) to all Rooftop students and develop partnerships between teachers, teaching artists, arts organizations and art parents to develop integrated, interdisciplinary curriculum that will support learning for all students.

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Art Volunteer Program, Grades TK-5

Rooftop’s Art parent and caregiver Volunteers are an essential part of Rooftop’s Art Program, providing an invaluable contribution that brings visual art to the classroom on a weekly basis.  All parents are welcome to lead or assist in classroom art projects.

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Credentialed Visual Arts Instruction, Grades 6-8

Mayeda students in grades 6-8 have core visual arts classes.  Classes explore in-depth the themes of the Art Is… curriculum along with multicultural and multimedia exploration.  The daily lessons teach a variety of traditional art techniques, while the themes of the lessons support learning across the curriculum.  Through art-making, students explore issues of personal identity, cultural perspectives, social justice, compassion and engagement with the world.  Technology and the arts are integrated with many of the themes resulting in creation of video movie making using Rooftop’s laptop lab.

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“Art Is…” Integrated Curriculum Study, 6th Grade

Sixth grade students engage in a weekly intensive study of the Art Is… curriculum.  Students’ guided inquiries into the works of art and guiding questions in the Art Is… curriculum are followed by art making responses to their discoveries.  Visual and performing arts, creative writing and new media and technology are among the many media explored in the 6th Grade Art Is… classes.

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Rooftop Clay Program, Grades TK-5

TK-5 classes receive clay instruction to create projects designed to build students' experience with clay as an artistic medium, and to integrate with the classroom curriculum. In grades 6-8 the Art Coordinator provides clay lessons for our middle school students.

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ROOFTOP ARTS TRADITIONS

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Rooftop Auction and Children’s Art Show

Each year, Rooftop students collaborate with their classmates to create works of art that are gifted to the school and open to bidding at the Rooftop Auction. Guided by Art Parents and teachers, these works showcase our children’s best creative efforts and beautifully represent the essence of Rooftop Spirit.

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SFUSD Citywide Youth Arts Festival and PTA Reflections

These two annual events offer opportunities to showcase our students’ creativity to the public.

The Citywide Youth Arts Festival is SFUSD’s annual celebration of student creativity in visual, literary, media and performing arts.  Student works, both as individuals and group artworks, are selected each year for display at locations around the city.

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PTA Reflections is one of the largest student arts recognition programs in the country.  Selected student work is showcased at the district level with a display at SFUSD headquarters.  Frequently, Rooftop students’ artwork is selected to advance to the California state level of the Reflections Program.

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San Francisco Symphony – Deck the Halls / Trim-A-Tree

Each year, Rooftop is honored to participate in the SF Symphony’s Deck the Halls program.  Every student creates an ornament of a design inspired by the “Art Is…” curriculum.  All 580 ornaments adorn a 16-foot holiday tree at Davies Symphony Hall and are viewed by thousands of San Franciscans over the holiday season.

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Winter Workshop

For three days in December, students in grades 1-5 participate in a workshop of the student’s choice to create a gift for a loved one. Students in grades 6-8 may participate in an optional Winter Workshop held after school at the Mayeda Campus. There are over twenty different workshops offered each year by teachers and art parent volunteers. The students create, complete, and wrap a gift and everyone celebrates with a festive Workshop party.

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Family Art Nights

At these evening arts events, the entire family is invited to come to school to share a light supper, make art together, and build community ties.  Rooftop hosts two Family Art Nights in the fall.  The first is a Kindergarten Family Art Night, which provides an intimate setting for new families to get to know each other.  Our All-School Family Art Night offers the opportunity for families across the grades to meet and make art together.

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Often, Family Art Nights’ activities are led by visiting artists, creating connections between the school and the larger Bay Area artistic community.  Family Art Nights have been led by Aiko Cuneo (Rooftop’s Art Program founder), Circus Finelli, Transit Dance founder Michael Koob, and improvisational arts with Stage Write.  One year, the intersection of the art and science of ants was explored with a visit by Dr. Brian Fisher, an entomologist and “Science Hero” from the California Academy of Sciences.

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Literary Arts

Rooftop’s Art Program guides students in exploring the written and spoken word as a powerful form of artistic expression.  Every year, works of poets and authors are included in the “Art Is…” curriculum for students to study and inspire their own creative writing.  Past studies have included the works of author Maurice Sendak, and poets Homeris Aridjis and Kay Ryan.

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Every spring, Rooftop hosts two poetry nights for our Fourth and Fifth Grade classes where students recite their own poetry.  The students’ written works are compiled into hand-bound poetry books that are treasured keepsakes of their year’s experience in developing their creative writing skills.