Dance
St. Margaret's offers a full range of dance classes for students in Early Childhood School through the grade 12. Students in the Early Childhood School and Lower School may enroll in the St. Margaret's Dance Conservatory, where they take age-appropriate classes in ballet, hip hop and tap, after school. Middle and Upper School students may take dance to fulfill both their P.E. and their Fine Arts Credits as part of their regular school day. In the Upper School there are two levels of dance offered. Students in these classes study and perform in a variety of genres including ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, and hip-hop technique. Dance classes also include yoga and Pilates-based conditioning to increase flexibility and strength. Instruction focuses on correct postural alignment, coordination, rhythmic patterns, fundamental dance positions, dance history and terminology. These courses emphasize essential life skills such as concentration, self-discipline, precision, goal-setting, confidence-building, self-expression, teamwork, effective communication and responsibility. The Dance Program produces two All-School Dance Concerts each year, which showcase both faculty and student choreography. Students are also introduced to the art of choreography and encouraged to creatively express themselves through guided exercises and group projects.
Drama
Theater at St. Margaret's is a process-oriented, experientially-based program available to students in grades 1 through 12. In the Lower School, dramatic play in the classroom sows the seeds of exploring the world of drama. Children participate in acting out stories, their own stories and ones from classroom literature. The Lower School produces two full-scale musicals with an open casting policy; every child who wishes to participate receives a role. The Lower School has a musical for students in grades 4 and 5 and another musical for students in grades 1-3. In the Middle School, every student in grades 6 and 7 takes theater, in a rotating schedule with other enrichment courses. Students in grade 8 may enroll in theater, a semester-long elective. The Middle School musical and play offers students opportunities to participate not only as actors, but in backstage and technical positions as well. The Upper School offers two University of California approved classes: Theater One and Advanced Theater. Over the course of the academic year, there are three full theater productions, including a drama, a musical and an evening of student-written and -directed plays. The technical and design positions are held almost entirely by students in the Upper School. St. Margaret's also participates in the Cappies, a national Critics and Awards Program for High School Theater and the Childress MACY Awards.
Music
St. Margaret’s offers comprehensive ensemble music programs for students in grades 4 through 12 that start with beginning classes all the way up to standard concert groups that rehearse and perform great works of music literature. Instruction in each discipline combines classroom interaction with technology-supported learning tools. All of our ensembles have two major concert performances each year in December and April, along with additional performing opportunities in collaboration with musical theater productions, chapel services, and other St. Margaret’s community functions.