Extracurricular Activities

Within our Wellness Program (physical education and health) we strive to help students gain knowledge of health-related fitness concepts, develop an understanding of their ideal level of physical fitness, and acquire a better understanding of how lifestyle choices affect one’s fitness and health. 

In elementary and middle school our students follow a standard physical education (PE) format and curriculum, meeting twice a week. Our high school students choose a PE class two to four times a week that best fits their interests in order to facilitate enthusiasm, participation and learning.

Some examples of PE classes include football, basketball, soccer and mindful movement. The goal of sports-focused classes is for students to be able to understand and demonstrate the rules and skills needed to play an organized game.

Mindful movement offers physical activity in combination with social-emotional wellness. Within this course, students will be introduced to yoga, pilates, tai chi, mindful meditation and other mindfulness activities. Students will be given the chance to participate in new activities that provide physical benefits along with stress management techniques.

In our choice-based art studio, students are exposed to a variety of art experiences including drawing, painting, ceramics, printmaking, photography, 3D printing, fiber arts and more. 

Students are challenged to create art pieces and build technical skills while simultaneously working on building self-confidence through creativity, imagination and problem solving.

They explore the works of both contemporary and historical artists with a focus on minority artists, advocacy and self-expression. Additionally, students routinely display their work in our school gallery and at our spring Festival of the Arts event. 

Jewelry studio focuses on the arts of adornment. Students learn skills of beading, forming, piercing, soldering, finishing and polishing through the creation of pieces of their own design. Students with prior experience in silversmithing and jewelry design are encouraged to build upon that foundation by learning more advanced techniques and honing their existing skills.

Students explore and gain inspiration from the works of both contemporary and historical jewelers with a focus on minority artists and sustainability.  Students routinely display their work in our school gallery and at our spring Festival of the Arts. Jewelry studio is offered to our high school students.

Students in woodworking learn to be creative and productive as they design and build projects that function and fit their skill level. As students demonstrate mastery of safety and technical skills, the complexity of their projects grows. They may start the course working on building clipboards or cutting boards and may then advance to projects such as coffee tables or stools.

Students learn the use of personal safety equipment, environmental safety equipment, and learn the safe operation of both hand and power tools. There is an emphasis on teamwork in order to facilitate openness to feedback and safe handling of materials and equipment.  The goal of the course is to develop functional and technical work skills and to promote a productive use of time and resources.

Metalworking teaches basic sheet metals skills but also trains students in electricity, welding and mechanics. Students start constructing required projects but then learn to apply skills to more complex creations. Emphasis on safety, and demonstrating the team skills needed to create a safe working environment, is ongoing.

Examples of projects students created in metals include dustpans, boxes, welded exercise equipment, custom bicycles, audio speakers, and plumbing samples. Metalworking is offered to our high school students. 

We are lucky to collaborate with our Newton neighbors InHome Jams to offer music classes to all Dearborn students. Teacher musicians from InHome Jams come to our music room three days a week. 

Students have opportunities to participate in live music classes as well as electronic music. During live music classes, students play live instruments individually and in groups. Some sessions emphasize guitar, keyboard or percussion, or a mix of all three depending on who signs up. In group sessions, students play different instruments together in a band. During electronic music, early classes are devoted to beat-making, creating loops and mixing. Later classes use the electronic music workstation to facilitate songwriting and recording.

Enrichment classes can be athletic or creative. They can teach useful life skills or simply create a space for social connections.

Changing content regularly generates enthusiasm among the students and takes advantage of diverse faculty skills and areas of interest.

Classes are taught by specialists, clinicians and milieu counselors in addition to our teaching staff. They expand the educational and social experiences of students and provide them with more opportunities to make choices.

Typical choices include:

• Sports 

• Basketball
• Rowing Club
• Flag Football 
• Floor Hockey
• Chess
• Dungeons & Dragons 
• Ecology 
• Community Service
• Student Council
• Gender & Sexuality Alliance (GSA)
• Theater
• Sewing
• Multicultural Club