The Fine Arts are an integral part of the core curriculum and provides students with unique experiences not taught in other core areas.

• The arts offer powerful tools for expression – tools for making connections between intellect and emotion, tools for bringing meaning and beauty into our lives, and tools for solving problems and communicating ideas.
• They are an essential part of human history and provide a foundation for understanding the present as well as the future.
• Studies in the arts foster perceptual awareness, cognitive processes, aesthetic literacy and life-coping skills. Participating in arts experiences enhances self-esteem, builds self-discipline, and reinforces societal values, such as cooperation, commitment, and working towards a common goal.
• Interdisciplinary arts experiences promote an artistically literate society and stronger understanding of oneself.

Amherst County Public Schools strives to provide a rich and extensive curriculum for all aspects of the performing and visual arts based on state and national standards in the fine arts.  Please visit the VDOE Fine Arts Education website for more information about Fine Arts education in Virginia.

Once students reach the 8th grade in ACPS, they are allowed to take American Sign Language (ASL), Spanish, or French. Students taking a foreign language at either middle school will receive high school credit upon successful completion of the course.  

For more information about World Language Standards of Learning, please visit the VDOE K-12 Standards & Instruction: World Language Standards of Learning website.