Under the direction of principal, Serge Marshall Davis, the visual arts are flourishing at MS/MS 95, the Sheila Mencher School in Van Cortlandt Village. Art teacher, Stephanie Fiorino, shepherds ongoing learning and projects, and opens students’ eyes to the world of line, shape, dimension, color, texture, and form. Even during the pandemic, through blended and remote learning, Ms. Fiorino provides clear pathways to student success.

The arts program challenges the students intellectually in the classroom and puts systems in place to anticipate smooth transitions to remote learning, whenever that may occur. Its success is due, in no small part, to Ms. Fiorino’s direction, and to her diligence in ensuring art supplies are sent home with the students so they have everything they need to continue with the curriculum when at home.

She also designs and models meaningful rubrics and examples, provides the students with inspiration for their artwork and always ensures high standards are met. She is diligent about both the students’ understanding of the processes, and also about exhibiting student work, always looking to increments of improvement on tasks, and authentic achievement.

Sidratul Chowdhury is a 6^th grader at the school and said she thinks the art program is really nice, and that she and her classmates work on “super cool” projects, including a huge mosaic. “In art class, we do oil paintings, perspective painting, and lots of water coloring.” Sidratul added that her class also has other art experiences, including exploring shade, geometric shapes and textures. She said the arts program is very interesting because the kids get to learn about different cultures, different art materials and history, and they are also given fun assignments, both online and in person.

Meanwhile, Ms. Fiorino reaches out beyond the classroom with ongoing communication and relationship-building with parents and other caretakers about the learning at hand. She elicits and addresses the concerns of the students, including the social and emotional aspects of current school life [amid the pandemic], striving to bring out each individual student’s “best self.” She pays particular attention to helping students overcome learning challenges.

Hakem Masoud is in 5^th grade and said the arts program improves kids’ skills, like drawing and painting. “We also do shading with charcoal,” he said. “We learn about lots of artists and their work.” He said, recently, they learned about Debora Moore, who works with flowers and plants in glass. “We are starting a new project called ‘light drawing of eggs’ to use light and shadows to make the assignment look like real eggs.”

Hakem said his teacher helps the students by making observations of their assignments and shows videos of how the artists go through the process of producing their work. He said he thinks the art program helps the school because it makes kids want to learn.

The program incorporates an array of technology, fully utilized to increase the students’ range of experiences. For example, iPads are used to make stop motion animations and online graphics programs such as Piskel and Google Drawings. Ms Fiorino is incisive in seeing just what each student needs in order to access the learning at hand, in the true sense of equity.

The students’ artwork is regularly and consistently displayed within the school building, and has also been displayed at Lehman College, Dream Yard events, at the office of District 10 of the Department of Education, and at the Bronx Arts Festival.

It is noteworthy that Ms. Fiorino was a nominee for the FLAG Award for teaching excellence, and that her students’ work has been professionally evaluated, accepted for, and exhibited at a program at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The visual arts program at the school is also well-balanced. Ms. Fiorino attends to the history and vision of the subject matter with broad, as well as specific, intellectual goals, articulating art with the other classroom subjects. She is intent upon encouraging students to finish their assignments.

Art is a particularly safe space for students to creatively express themselves, and art at the school connects art skills and art appreciation through a variety of mediums.

Malak Kalaz is aged 10 and is also in 5th grade. “I really enjoy art because it makes me feel very happy and calm,” she said. “Having art at school and after school is really fun.” Malak said she loves her teachers because they teach art in a fun and understandable way. She has learned about shading, abstract value, using shapes in art, drawing 3D, among other topics. “Art can make you feel very proud of yourself,” she said.

Check out the school’s Instagram account at ArtSmart95x. It’s a treat!

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.