Academics

Current Teacher: R. Pienaar

This multi-grade class is for students who have never played a musical instrument before and would like to learn how to play a brass, woodwind, or percussion instrument. Students will have the opportunity to try out the different band instruments and choose one that they would like to study. Students will learn the fundamentals of music as well as the beginning fundamentals of instrument musicianship. Students will develop note reading and rhythm skills. Throughout the year. There will be performance opportunities for the students and a chance for them to show what they have learned. 

Participation in band requires a commitment to playing in class and outside of the school day. Students who are in Band 6, Band 7, or Band 8 who are interested in learning an additional band instrument are encouraged to register for Beginning Band as a 2nd elective. 

Beginning Band Year Overview

Current Teachers: Roy Pienaar

This band consists of students who have previous experience playing a brass, woodwind, or percussion instrument. In this course, a variety of musical literature will be studied and students will have multiple performance experiences throughout the year. The fundamentals of instrumental musicianship will be reviewed and emphasized throughout the course. Students will develop their note reading and rhythmic skills while focusing on tone production and instrument technique. Members of this class often will perform with the other bands in their concerts.

Practice at home is required in order to be at performance level. Participation requires a commitment to performing both in class and outside of the school day.

Band 6 Year Overview

Current Teachers: Roy Pienaar

This band consists of students who have previous experience playing a brass, woodwind, or percussion instrument. In this course, a variety of music literature will be studied and all students will have multiple performance experiences each year. Assessments will include both formative and summative performance skill assessment, quarterly music playing exams and some written assessments.

Practice at home is required in order to be at performance level. Participation requires a commitment to performing both in class and outside of the school day. 

If you are a student who was in band but you took a year off, please talk to Mr. Pienaar one-on-one before registering for this class. 

Band 7 Year overview

Current Teachers: Roy Pienaar

This band consists of students who have previous experience playing a brass, woodwind, or percussion instrument. Students will get a chance to sharpen their instrumental skills through challenging music and performances. Band 8 students may also be selected to represent the St. Louis Park School District at various community events and contests. Assessments will include both formative and summative performance assessments, quarterly music playing exams, and some written assessments. Practice at home is required in order to be at performance level. 

Participation requires a commitment to performing both in class and outside of the school day, including festivals and concerts.

If you are a student who was in band but you took a year off, please talk to Mr. Pienaar one-on-one before registering for this class. 

Band 8 Year Overview
 

Current Teachers: C. Larson

This class is for students who would like to sing and continue to develop vocal skills. No previous experience is necessary. Choir is an upbeat course where students work together as a team to develop their singing skills. Choir members will work on vocal technique, rehearsal skills, and be given a well-rounded background in music fundamentals. Each student will develop independent singing and reading skills to attain a high level of musicianship and confidence.

There will be opportunities for performances throughout the year. Participation requires a commitment to performing both in class and outside of the school day.

Choir 6 Year Overview

Current Teachers: C. Larson

This choir class experience will build on skills developed in 6th grade choir, and all students are welcome to join regardless of previous experience. Students will get the chance to improve their vocal skills while emphasizing the basics of proper techniques. Choir is an ensemble based course in which students work together as a team to develop their vocal skills.

Choir members will work on proper vocal technique in a variety of styles and musical genres, and will be given a well-rounded background in music fundamentals. Each student will develop independent singing and reading skills to attain a high level of musicianship and confidence. There will be several opportunities for performances each year. Participation requires a commitment to performing in class and outside of the school day. 

View the Choir 7 Year Overview

Current Teacher: Chris Larson

This choir class experience will build on skills developed in 7th grade choir, and all students are welcome to join regardless of previous experience. Students will get a chance to sharpen their vocal skills through challenging music and performances. Choir members will work on advanced vocal technique and rehearsal skills in a variety of styles and musical genres, and will be given a well-rounded background in music fundamentals. Each student will develop independent singing and reading skills to attain a high level of musicianship and confidence. There will be several opportunities for performances each year.

Participation requires a commitment to performing both in class and outside of the school day.

Choir 8 Year Overview

Current Teacher: K. Lee 

Not currently taught for 2024-2025

Beginning strings is a multi-grade orchestra class which is open to all students with no previous experience required. Students will have the opportunity to learn how to play the violin, viola, cello, and bass before selecting their main instrument. This class focuses on foundational instrumental skills and music reading. Throughout the year there will be performance opportunities where students will be able to showcase the skills they develop in this course. Participating in this class requires commitment to playing in class as well as practicing at home. 

Current Teachers: Kou Lee

Prerequisite: 2 or more years of string instructions. (Combined 6/7)

In this course, a variety of orchestral literature will be studied and students will have multiple performance experiences throughout the year. The fundamentals of instrumental musicianship will be reviewed and emphasized throughout the course. Students will develop their note reading and rhythmic skills while focusing on tone production and bowing technique. Assessments will include both formative and summative performance skill assessment. Members of this class often will perform with the other orchestras in their concerts.

Participation requires a commitment to performing both in class and outside of the school day. 

Orchestra 6/7 Year Overview

Current Teacher: Kou Lee

Prerequisite: 3 or more years of string instructions. (Combined 6/7)

In Orchestra 7, students will have the opportunity to improve technique while emphasizing basics. Using a variety of musical literature, the fundamentals of instrumental musicianship will be reviewed and emphasized throughout the course. In seventh grade, students will continue to develop their rhythmic skills while focusing on intonation, tone production, and bowing techniques. They will also have an introduction to more advanced techniques, such as shifting and vibrato. Practice at home is required in order to be at performance level.

Participation requires a commitment to performing both in class and outside of the school day.

Orchestra 6/7 Year Overview

Current Teacher: Kou Lee

Prerequisite: 4 or more years of string instructions. (Combined 7/8)

This is an intermediate orchestra focused on developing students into advanced instrumentalists. This orchestra will continue to build on fundamental skills students learned their first few years of playing through the use of exercises not limited to scales, arpeggios, intervals, as well as through ear training. The repertoire selected will help students develop their understanding and interpretation of music. Students will be given several formatives and one summative assessment each quarter to help them keep track of their progress as a musician. While in 8th grade orchestra, students may have opportunities to perform with the St. Louis Park High School orchestra.

Through the rigorous training in 8th grade orchestra, students may have opportunities to perform with the St. Louis Park High School orchestra. Through the rigorous training in 8th grade orchestra, students should be ready to enter into any high school orchestra should they choose. Practice is required in this course. All concerts are required.

Orchestra 7/8 Year Overview

Current Teacher: C. Larson

Guitar Class provides students an opportunity to explore the fundamentals of guitar performance; reading traditional notation, understanding the musical concepts of melody, harmony, rhythm and form. Students will develop a deeper appreciation for all styles of music and music as art. Students will learn the application of the music alphabet to the entire fretboard, learn to read music notation, and memorize basic chord fingerings and chord progressions.

World Drumming is designed to introduce students to a fundamental understanding of elements of music and rhythm while exploring ways to create music on ordinary household items, as well as the roles of music in society and culture through performance on African, Latin, and Native American percussion instruments.

Participation requires a commitment to performing both in class and outside of the school day.

Guitar/World Drumming 6 Year Overview

Current Teacher: Chris Larson

Guitar Class provides students an opportunity to explore the fundamentals of guitar performance; reading traditional notation, understanding the musical concepts of melody, harmony, rhythm and form. Students will learn the application of the music alphabet to the entire fretboard, learn to read music notation, and memorize basic chord fingerings and chord progressions. They will learn several strumming and finger techniques for accompanying songs.

World Drumming students will be learning basic percussion techniques including proper playing position, music notation, music theory, and performance skills as they learn excerpts and songs through curriculum such as World Music Drumming and a Drum Circle Handbook.

Guitar/World Drumming 7 Year Overview
 

Current Teachers: Chris Larson

This class provides students an opportunity to explore the fundamentals of guitar performance; reading traditional notation, understanding the musical concepts of melody, harmony, rhythm, and form. Students will learn the application of the music alphabet to the entire fret board; learn to read music notation, and memorize basic chord fingerings and chord progressions. They will learn several strumming and finger techniques for accompanying songs. 

World Drumming is designed to introduce students to an intermediate understanding of elements of music and rhythm while exploring ways to create music on ordinary household items, as well as the roles of music in society and culture through performance on African, Latin, Native American percussion instruments. 

Participation requires a commitment to performing both in class and outside of the school day.

Guitar/World Drumming 8 Year Overview

Current Teacher: C. Larson

Within the academic year, students will explore music, theater, and dance as well as the visual arts by participating in the production of a pre-written musical. The musical will be learned, rehearsed, and staged during class and result in public performances during the first semester of the year. Creativity will be stressed and developed while students learn basic techniques common to all of the arts. During the alternate semester, students will assist in selecting choral music to be learned, rehearsed, and performed in a musical that they will write, direct, choreograph, costume, and perform. Students will be expected to attend  and perform at concerts and shows outside regular school hours.

Musical Theater Choir Year Overview

Current Teachers: B. Wolfe

Bienvenidos! Spanish 6 is an introductory course in the Spanish language and cultures of the Spanish-speaking world. It is appropriate for students new to Spanish as well as those who have taken elementary Spanish. The goal of Spanish 6 is for students to communicate on a limited range of topics both orally and in writing. Spanish 6 students will focus on listening and speaking in Spanish during class.

Spanish 6 Year Overview

Current Teachers: J Puzzo

This course is an introduction for beginning language students. The course starts from the beginning with French, using a variety of techniques to learn a fun language that is spoken around the world. Students will learn about a variety of French cultures and histories, in addition to learning how to speak and understand in French. Students will enjoy activities that involve physical action to learn the foundations of the French language while working with all four modalities of language acquisition (speaking, reading, writing, listening).

French 6 Year Overview

Current Teachers: S. Fox

Herzlich Willkommen! This class starts students’ language acquisition with the foundations of German language and culture. At this level students will learn basic phrases, sentence structures, and vocabulary to help communicate in German. Classes are intended to be conducted mostly in German to accelerate proficiency.

Learning activities will include music, physical activities, role playing, and games. Although speaking and listening are emphasized at this level, there will be a good balance of writing and reading as well.

German 6 Year Overview

Current Teachers: M. Khalaf, T. Campbell

¡Aprende mas! Language acquisition continues as students use the language in meaningful and authentic ways. Students will communicate about themselves using personal adjectives and verbs, express opinions, and share about daily routines. Students will also begin learning the nuances of verb conjugations and sentence building by seeing and using the language in a variety of texts and mediums of communication. 

Spanish 7 Year Overview

Current Teachers: Jenny Puzzo

Students will continue with their French language development by expanding on their ability to communicate with others. Students will continue to learn about a variety of French cultures and practices. Students will communicate about themselves and others using adjectives, verbs, and nouns. They will learn about how our schools are different from those in France, by learning vocabulary and culture. Students will work with all four modalities of language acquisition (speaking, reading, writing, listening) during the class. Successful completion of this course will prepare students for French 8.

View the French 7 overview

Current Teachers: S. Fox

Students will continue to develop language skills by exploring how to talk about daily lives. Communicating primarily in German, the teacher and students will ask and answer questions, discuss topics of everyday life, and do more comparing and contrasting of different cultures. Students should anticipate explaining their proficiency by working with all four modalities of language acquisition (speaking, listening, reading, and writing).

German 7 Year Overview

Current Teachers: B. Wolfe

Students will identify messages, facts, opinions, feelings, and ideas presented in oral, visual, and written language and demonstrate their comprehension in short oral and written form. Students will work towards mastery of basic language skills. The goal at the end of eighth grade is for students to be prepared for Spanish II at the High School.

Spanish 8 Year Overview

Current Teachers: Jenny Puzzo

Students will build upon the materials they learn in French 7 to move from scripted conversations into conversations they create on their own. Understanding will be enhanced by the ability to work with verbs, adjectives, and nouns in context in French. Students will work towards comfortably speaking, reading, and writing in French. Students will be able to ask and answer a variety of questions about their daily lives and the activities of others. Successful completion of French 8 will prepare students for French 2 at the high school.

French 8 Year Overview

Current Teachers: S. Fox

Students will build language skills based on what they have learned in the previous grades, demonstrating proficiency and ownership of the language. Students will become more comfortable expressing themselves through text and dialogue using the functions of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and prepositions correctly. More complex sentences and word order will give the language a more authentic dimension.

German 8 Year Overview

Current Teachers: Gladis Romero

Este curso está diseñado para los estudiantes hispanohablantes que hablan bien español y que quieran mejorar sus habilidades en lectura y escritura. La clase se enseña completamente en español y se enfoca en fonética (sonidos), ortografía, puntuación, lenguaje académico, lectura y escritura (composición). Esta clase también se ofrece en los grados 9-12.

This class is designed for students who are native speakers of Spanish and would like to improve their reading and writing skills. The class will be conducted entirely in Spanish and will focus on phonetics, spelling, punctuation, academic language, reading, and composition. St. Louis Park High School also offers Spanish for Native Speakers.

Síntesis Académico del Año Escolar

Current Teacher: C. Persky

St. Louis Park Middle School values our community of diverse learners. The goal of the Multilingual/English Language Learners Program is to develop students’ academic English language proficiency so they can access the content and fully participate in their grade level classes. Service and support decisions are made based on the individual student’s strengths and needs. 

Students in the ML/EL Program: 

• Speak languages other than English at home 
• Are born in the U.S. or have come to the U.S. at some point during their schooling 
• Participate in the ACCESS test each year to measure their academic English language development 
• Are in co-taught core content classes and/or English Language Development classes depending on proficiency level

English Language Development Year Overview